The Magnetic Flame Trilogy: I'd Come for You
by Animal Urges
Summary: It's been 7 years since Clara last saw Erik, one night, she suddenly sees him in a vision and can't help think that something bad is about to happen. She's proven right when the first mutant is woken up and takes Erik as one of his horsemen. For the first time since she's met him, Clara's going to have to fight against Erik in order to save the world from total damnation. 2/3
1. Face in the Flames

Clara cupped her hands over her mouth as she yelled out, "Let's go! You can do this, come on! Don't give up! It's the last minute so give it everything you've got. I need everyone to work together. Let's go!"

"I did it!" a girl cheered as she passed the finish line of the obstacle course.

"Congratulations, Rose!" Clara clapped, "Team red wins!"

Sean reached over and hugged the girl on his team as he said, "Way to go!"

"Alright, you guys, bring it in. Good job everyone, it was all pretty close" Clara told everyone as the last team passed the finish line.

Rob heaved out a sigh, "We could've won, you know that. If I could just use my powers then we would've won. Why can't we use our powers for PE once a month?"

"Because that's the headmasters rule"

"Don't be such a sucker, Rob!"

Clara watched as Rob's girlfriend, Rose, got up onto her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. The frown immediately turned into a smile as he looked over to his girlfriend. Clara couldn't help but smile to the couple as she took out her watch and glanced at the time. She had to dismiss the class soon if they were to have time to shower and change for their next class. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear as she turned to her class and smiled to them.

"Alright, guys! Like I said, it was a great game!"

Some people nodded and glanced to each other, even the ones that came in last seemed to have enjoyed it. She smiled to herself as some were even talking about what they were planning on doing for the next round. Clara raised up her hands as they lit up in flames as she waved them over her head. The motion distracted the talking to the point that they all looked over and became quiet.

"Now that I have your attention" Clara cleared her throat.

"I hope to see your fitness journals turned in by Saturday" Clara told everyone, "Make sure to document everything, even the food intake, how you felt afterwards, and how much water you normally drink"

Some of her students heaved their shoulders down and groaned at the sound of the journal. She's been trying to keep everyone on track with the list but knew it was a chore to the other students. Still, she ignored it and pressured on.

Clara continued, "Don't worry about it not being completed to the T. All I need is about 7 days minimum of journal entry and I made this assignment, what? Four weeks ago? Do you guys have any questions?"

After saying that, everyone glanced around each other as if deciding on a group question. Clara raised her eyebrow as she placed her hands on her hips and counted down the seconds until one.

When she mentally went down to one, they all looked over to her and shook their heads in unison.

Clara laughed, "Alright guys, enjoy your day. Hurry up and change alright, you guys stink!"

Everyone just laughed at her joke as some got up and immediately ran off to the mansion. Others took their time as they chatted with their friends about the practice today. Then there were the nice few who walked back to the obstacle course and helped take stuff down. Clara smiled and told them thank you as she helped a student named, Arne pull down a net. She took this time to glance around at the field with students lounging around and basking in the spring sunlight.

Clara thought that after her first class she was going to pack it up and leave back to Poland. Instead, she ended up staying for 7 more years as with each passing year, it felt more and more like home to her. She loved how she could stay for part of the year and once vacation was coming, she packs up her bags and goes off to wherever her heart feels like it. She always thinks in the back of her head that maybe this was her last year, but Clara always finds herself coming back.

* * *

Later that night, Clara stretched out in front of the fireplace as she flipped through a magazine. She wasn't surprised to hear footsteps in the middle of the night before hearing them enter the living room as Hank plopped himself down on the opposite side of the couch. Clara looked up as Hank reached out his hands to the flames and rubbed his hands together, trying to get warm.

A smirk came onto her face as she made the fire go close to Hank's hands, making the man gasp and move back. Clara leaned her head back and let out a loud laugh as Hank turned and scowled at her.

Hank mumbled, "Very funny"

Clara shrugged, "I couldn't help it! It was just too easy. You fall for it every time"

"Not everytime" Hank glared at her.

"So what brings you here?" Clara asked.

Hank shivered, "The cold. Honestly, how could it be so nice during the day and freezing at night? I have too many sensitive equipment in my lab that would blow up in a heartbeat if the heater turns on"

Clara gave a side nod as she remembered how she was recently banned from his lab. Clara teasing him with her pyro power has made him nervous of her being around. She loved getting the chance to scare the crap out of Hank just because he was the opposite of her. Clara glanced over to his gadget as Hank haunched over and continued to work on what looked like a simple remote. She just stiffened up and shook her head as she bit her tongue from asking the man what he was working on.

Clara stretched, "Don't you have a class to teach at 8 in the morning? You're cutting it pretty close if it's 1:40 right now"

Hank mumbled something under his breath as he tried to keep his hand as still as he could. Clara rolled her eyes at the man ignoring her as she sat up in a sitting position. She hated whenever Hank answered back with mumbling and knew that she had already lost him to his gadgets.

It took some time, but after Hank started to get used to having Clara around, they sort of bonded on their had nothing in common but that seemed to be the fun between them as they just simply liked being in the others company. Clara sometimes can't help but think that if she had a little brother, he would be like Hank. Someone who was smart and who needed to be reminded of the simplest things in life like getting enough sleep.

Clara sighed loudly to see if that would work but, of course, it didn't. She tossed down her magazine near Hank who grunted and looked up to her.

Hank glared, "Watch it! This is very sensitive. I could've clipped a wire that destroyed everything I worked on"

Clara gave an exasperated nod as if she understood why this was so important to him.

Clara scooted up, "That's very interesting! Now what about you getting ready for bed so that you won't fall asleep in class again"

Hank finally glanced up to the clock before he let out a defeated sigh and placed down his tools. He groaned as he leaned back, closing his eyes, and rubbed the tiredness out of them. It only took Hank a couple of seconds before exhaustion had finally hit him. Clara picked up the magazine she had used for his distraction as she found her page and continued to read. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear as she hummed to herself.

"What about you?" Hank asked.

"I don't have any classes until after 2. So unlike you, I get to stay up for as long as I want"

"Lucky"

Clara turned to the flames before her eyes suddenly zoned out as a vision of the future filled her eyes. She saw Erik, making Clara gasp as she lurched off of the couch and landed in front of the fire as a tear rolled down her eye. She could tell he was in pain as he screamed out in agony to the sky as the wind moved around him. Clara couldn't feel it but her heart shattered into a million pieces for him as he cried before the vision died away into the fire.

Hank's voice spoke from behind her, "Clara? What is it?"

"Nothing! It's nothing" Clara shook her head as she wiped the tear from her cheek.

Clara stood up as she tried to summon the vision back but it never works like that after receiving a vision already. She knew well enough that Hank wouldn't bother to hear about anything what happens to Erik. Ever since what happened in front of the White House, Hank has had more of a grudge on Erik than ever before.

But something told her in the flames that Erik was going to be in trouble, she just wished she knew where. Clara turned around and smiled weakly to her friend as he gazed at her more closely.

Clara did a big, fake yawn as she waved her hand of the fire and made it die down so that only light was the lamp by the doorway as their only source of light.

"I guess I'm just as exhausted as you" Clara said as she walked over to the hallway.

"I guess so" Hank shrugged as he walked with her, "I guess I'll have to finish this tomorrow then. Are you sure you didn't have a vision?"

"I thought I did. But it was just a flicker of light. It's happened more than once" Clara lied as she turned and gazed back into the dying embers, wanting to know more of what she saw.


	2. Charles' Input

Clara felt the vision replay in her mind once more as she couldn't help but stare into Charles' crystal blue eyes. They were hard to read, but it still beared the same hardness of distrust over Erik. He blinked when he examined Erik's face torn up and screaming to the sky, almost as if he's never seen that side of him before. If Clara had to be honest, she's never seen that side as well; he was always so put together and rarely let anyone through to know his true feelings. Even her, the one woman who seemed to be the closest thing he had to a on-and-off girlfriend for so many years.

Charles sighed as he leaned back, "I can see why this is troubling you, Clara"

Clara leaned in, "What does it mean?"

Charles finally let his fingers slid as he rubbed them around his mouth, he stared down to his desk. Ever since getting the vision, Clara couldn't sleep as she knew in the pit of her stomach that something was wrong and not just with Erik. There was a massive windstorm that was around him which could possibly mean a mutant attacking him but then Erik wasn't the type to cry in front of an enemy. No matter how she spinned her point of view of the vision, she couldn't figure out how everything played out in the future.

"You've had visions of him come to you on your own before" Charles stated.

"Yes, but never ones like this" Clara argued.

Charles shrugged, "You never know with Erik, he's a very complex man"

"But you and I both know that he's not the type to show that much emotion"

"I am aware of that"

"It's been so long since I had a vision of him and I wasn't thinking about him before it all happened" Clara got up and paced behind her chair.

"Oh, no, I definitely believe you. Your train of thought didn't trigger it which meant that your power did" Charles stepped in.

When Clara first came to the school, she still tried to find Erik even without Cerebro, hoping that a vision will show where he ended up. Instead, when she finally got one of him, it just showed Clara him living his life without her; finding a woman, getting married, and having a child. Eventually, she stopped but her mind was so used to finding Erik that whenever she had a vision, it would either start with Erik or ended with him until finally the reflex died down.

She couldn't help but feel defeated whenever she saw him happy with someone and giving her everything that she wanted from him. Clara swallowed hard as she turned around and faced Charles who seemed to be avoiding one word in particular.

She too hated trying to bring it up but she couldn't help but feel like there was something more to the vision then it let on.

"Just at least try it once, Charles" Clara begged.

"You know I can't" Charles told her, "Your vision is distressing, yes, but not something to go fully on. It may be that your psychic bond is still attached to him and when he displayed a raw emotion, it triggered it. Plus, you told me long ago to never let Erik know that you work here so how will I tell him that it was in fact, _me_ that had a vision of something like this happening when he clearly knows it's not my power"

"I know, but that was before getting something like this" Clara sighed, "Something's wrong, I can feel it"

Charles sighed, "Look, maybe tonight I can go to Cerebro and check his mind just to make sure everything is alright. But I'm warning you, he will sense my presence. I taught him many years ago and I will not be surprised if he does remember the feeling. You just can't be there. You will have to trust my word, do you understand?"

"Yes" Clara mumbled as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Good, now if you excuse me, I have a class to teach" Charles wheeled himself out of his desk, signalling that their meeting had come to an end.

* * *

"Hey, was there a meeting I missed, I saw you and Charles leave his office before I went to my class?" Hank asked once he found Clara in the hallway.

Clara shook her head, "It was just a one on one talk"

Hank sighed, "Good, cause I've missed plenty. It's just that I-"

"Keep your head in your gadgets" Clara smirked, "I trust you got a good night's sleep"

Hank shrugged, "To be fair, most of my inventions are being used here. Like the obstacle course that you love to put up. But yes, I got a good night's sleep, thanks for asking"

"Good"

"So what was the talk about?"

Clara rolled her eyes, "Do you always have to pry?"

Hank chuckled, "I'm just curious"

Clara lied, "Just about taking the kids on a field trip or something"

"The backpacking trip" Hank sucked in his breath.

"Well, it was worth a shot" Clara shrugged.

"Couldn't hurt for trying, I know your students would've loved it. But maybe backpacking with a bunch of kids in the woods and mountains isn't the best thing to do"

"Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean that others won't. Some kids love the outdoors, maybe you should come as my co-teacher"

Hank scrunched up his face, "No thanks. I think I'm busy"

"Oh, come on! A little bit of fresh air couldn't hurt" Clara pressed.

"I have a bunch of air here" Hank waved his hands around.

Clara shrugged, "You would be missing out then"

Hank shook his head, "Maybe Michael can? He likes being outdoors and probably has been a boy scout before. You should ask him"

"I would if it were a green light" Clara reminded him.

Hank glared, "So you only wanted to talk about me tagging along just for the fun of it?"

"Yup! And the reaction was priceless! You, my friend, have absolutely no life" Clara teased.

"I hate you, next time you ask for a new obstacle course, I'm going to demand money" Hank said as he walked down the hallway.

Clara called after him in a sing-song voice, "No, you won't"


	3. Summers

Clara let out a steady breath as she made a right turn through the maze that she already knew by heart. A student was in the middle walking through making Clara leap over to the side before she jumped back into the center once more. She could feel a slight gleam of sweat coming up from her skin as she loved the feeling of her lungs expanding more than normal as she ran faster. Working on the student's grades felt almost too cramping as she never even knew that being a physical education teacher would have homework. Sometimes, days like this she would just blow it off and make a mental note to work on them… or until Charles tells her to bring in her progress report on her students.

She heard something rustling on the other side of the maze and decided to take a turn left to figure out what was going on. Once she turned, she noticed a couple as the girlfriend giggled from her boyfriend sucking on her neck. Clara couldn't help but give a wicked smile as she made her way over to the children. She stopped just a few paces away from them and placed her hands on her hips as she tried to catch her breath.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Clara asked brightly.

"Miss Clara!" the girl gasped as her boyfriend leaped back.

The boy cleared his throat, "We were just, uh-"

"I know a great place to take it to second base… detention, Saturday morning" Clara gave a thumbs up.

The girl groaned as the boy tried to justify what they were doing but Clara didn't pay attention as she gave him a helpless shrug. Clara turned and ran back down into the maze as she couldn't help but chuckle to herself. Sometimes it was great to have the authority that she does as a teacher.

Charles sometimes worries that she might abuse her power but so far, Clara's been a good girl. Only giving punishment when it was needed but also has a slight turn for enjoying it too much.

She burst through one of the exits as she stopped and placed her hands on her hips once again, leaned her head up to the sky, and gave a sigh.

Clara checked the time as she found that even stopping to give off detention, she still beat her target time. With a smile on her face she walked away and started to head on over to the mansion. She rounded the corner just as she noticed Charles and Hank with a blonde haired man and a boy with a bandage over his eyes. Her curiosity got the best of her as she turned and started to head in their direction. Clara gave off a friendly smile as she waved at Charles before he stopped and waved out to Clara.

"I would like you introduce you to another teacher, she's our physical education teacher" Charles turned to Clara, "Clara this is Alex Summers, one of my first students and his brother Scott"

Clara reached out and took Alex's hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you"

"You too" Alex nodded.

"We were just about to test out Scott's gifts, Clara" Charles looked up to her, "Would you like to join?"

Clara beamed, "Of course, it's one of my favorite parts of meeting a student"

Clara looked over to Scott who seemed to pinch his mouth into a tight line as they all continued to walk. She's seen that look before on most students who had trouble with their abilities being outward. She remembered the times of waking up to her room being in flames again. Unlike everyone at this school, Clara had to learn to control it on her own, until Erik found her and made her see the endless possibilities of being the higher species to mankind.

"What are your powers, Clara?"

"She's a pyromaniac"

Clara glared at Hank, "Not exactly. My powers are fire based, I can heal myself and see into the future with my flames too"

"So can you win the lottery or something?" Scott asked.

"I tried that" Clara laughed, "No, I only get visions when I sense _danger"_

Charles cleared his throat, "And other things, like visions that have no meaning, sometimes she can check in on us just to see how we're doing"

"I can make those come at will" Clara told them, "Some of them are warnings believe it or not"

"Am I missing something here?" Hank asked, "I thought that we were here to assess Scott's powers"

"Absolutely!" Clara yelled out a little bit too loudly.

"The first step to understanding one's power is learning the extent of it" Charles began, "Only then can we begin the process of teaching you how to control it. If you do decide to stay, I can promise you that by the time you're done here, you'll be able to go back into the world and play a stable and productive part in it. Why don't you take your bandages off and we can have a look at what we're dealing with here? Alex, will you line him up? Face him in the right direction, as it were. There's a target just across the water. When you open your eyes, try and hit that"

Clara folded her arms over her chest as Alex moved Scott so he was standing in front of the direction of the target. When Scott took off his bandages, he let out a shuddering breath as he wiggled his fingers around. Clara looked up and exchanged a look with Hank before turning back towards Scott.

"You can open your eyes, Scott" Charles beckoned, "There's nothing to be afraid of. It's quite-"

Suddenly, a blast of ruby light shot out of Scott's eyes as it lasered across the lake, past the target, and up a tree. Clara couldn't help but jump back and let out a yelp before Scott jammed his eyes shut.

"Look out! Get back!" a girl shrieked.

"Get back! Get back!" yelled more students.

Once everyone recovered, Charles let out a laugh as he smiled at the thin, black, line running straight across an old tree.

Charles turned to Scott, "My grandfather planted that tree when he was five years old. I used to swing from the branches of it, myself"

Clara heard a groan as she turned and noticed that the tree collapsed, split in two as Charles stopped for a moment before confessing, "I think that was probably my favorite tree"

Clara couldn't help but giggle as Scott asked, "Does that mean I'm expelled?"

"Oh, on the contrary" Charles beamed, "You're enrolled"


	4. Grey

Clara closed her eyes and took in a deep breath as she tried to calm herself down with meditation. The heat of the fire danced on her skin as it colored her closed eyelids a blood orange, beckoning her to open them. She couldn't figure out anything from her previous vision so she decided to call upon another vision to see if she could see anything else. The flames flickered and gave off a slight roar as she knew that if she opened her eyes, it would give her something. She mentally readied herself before she opened her eyes and stared into the flames in the fireplace once more.

In the fire, she saw Magneto walking with a stone face towards a pyramid and he wasn't alone. Two women were beside him, one was hovering in the air as lightning erupted in the sky as a man with metal wings flew high above. Clara looked around the vision before she noticed that they were following what appeared to be a man in blue skin and felt so old that she could taste the age in her tastebuds. But with him being old, she sensed great, tremendous, and dark power from the man as his eyes turned white.

He lifted up his hands to the sky as the buildings, people, and anything that was an object quickly turned to ash as it circled around him. Clara watched in horror as a woman tried to run away with her child but then let out a shrill scream before disappearing. She gasped as she witnessed the catastrophe that unfolded before her eyes.

"Everything they've built will fall!" the man shouted to the heavens.

The fire exploded, making Clara fall back from the balls of her heels to her bottom as the fire came alive on its own. The strength of the vision seemed to have taken control over her own powers as she watched Magento levitate himself up into the sky with metal floating around him.

Reluctantly, Clara waved out her hand as the flames died down and disappeared from the fireplace just as the mansion started to creak and groan as if they were on a ship.

"Back to bed, please, my darling. Back to bed" She heard Charles' voice as students were standing around in the hallways.

"She's doing it again"

Clara called out, "Back to bed, everyone"

"Jesse, back to bed, please" Charles told a girl.

"Come on now. Spit-spot, back to bed" Clara ushered the boy inside his room and closed the door behind him.

Charles looked down the hall, "Carrie Anne, come on now. Back to bed"

Clara looked down to Charles as he gave her a nod before they both met up in front of Hank. He gave off a worried look before opening the door and showing them Jean Grey. She was experiencing a nightmare, no doubt, but it wasn't her tossing and turning that caught her attention. Clara's eyes scanned the wall as she noticed that they were burning from some sort of steam as they bubbled under the heat. Clara's mouth dropped open as she suddenly worried what Jean was seeing in her dream to make her experience this.

Hank whispered, "Never seen it like this"

"Nor I" Charles agreed, "Don't let any of the children come this way"

Clara watched as Charles wheeled himself in before she said, "This is going to make her feel powerless"

Hank only gave her a solemn look before he nodded to her. Clara sighed as she wrapped one arm around her body and pinched the bridge of her nose. She couldn't help but feel like this was her fault in seeking Erik, she brought on a way worse future. Maybe Jean sensed it and started to feed off of the vision to create a nightmare.

Hank asked, "Are you okay?"

Before she could answer, Charles yelled out as he cupped his head, "Jean!"

Jean shot up from her bed as Clara barely made her way into the room, wanting to help but not knowing what to do. She's never seen Charles struggle like this when it came to waking up someone. Clara glanced over her shoulder to Hank as he shared the same worried expression on his face.

Jean stammered, "I saw the end of the world. I could feel all this death"

"It was just a dream" Charles waved it off.

"No, it felt real" Jean argued.

"I know" Charles told her, "Your mind is the most powerful I've ever seen. It can convince itself-"

Jean quickly stepped in, "No, no, it's not just the mind-reading or the telekinesis, it's something else. Some dark power inside and it's growing. Like a fire. I thought I was getting better"

"You are" Charles urged, "You will. You just have to be patient"

Jean shook her head violently, "No, no! You don't know what it's like to be afraid to shut your eyes. To be trapped inside your own head"

"Oh, I think I do" Charles said gently, "It wasn't so long ago that I was plagued by voices myself. All their suffering. All their pain. Their secrets"

Jean calmed down as she confessed, "I'm afraid one day I'm going to hurt someone"

"Lie back" Charles told her.

Clara watched as Charles grunted as he pulled himself from his wheelchair and sat on Jean's bed. Just the effort of being close to her made Clara feel how much Charles looked his students.

"Everyone fears that which they do not understand" Charles went on, "You will learn to control your powers. And when you do… you'll have nothing to fear"

Hank whispered to her, "Mind on telling me what's going on?"

Clara looked over her shoulder to Hank, "About what? I'm fine, Hank. I just was tired when Jean had her nightmare. Why do you ask?"

Hank stared at her, "Because you look like you've seen a ghost"

Clara stared at him for a little bit before she said, "Alright, I had a very big and bad vision just seconds before Jean had her episode. I can't help but feel she saw my vision in her mind and is reacting to it now. It was just so crazy because my fire went out of control for a split second too"

"Do you think it was Jean?" Hank nodded over into the room.

Clara shook her head, "No, it definitely was something else"

Hank folded his arms over his chest, "What was the vision about?"

"It looked like a new league of rebels that are going to do way worse than any of us can imagine" Clara told him.

"A new league, huh? Tell me, is Erik their sadistic leader too" Hank said darkly.

Clara rubbed her lips together as she remembered seeing Erik's face as still as a statue.

"No" Clara shook her head, "I didn't see him there"

"Well, that's good news at least. We should see what the professor thinks about this" Hank told her.

Clara straightened up, "Actually, let's just deal with Jean tonight. We don't want to be up all night worrying about every single problem"

"What problem?"

"Nothing, Charles"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, how's Jean" Clara closed her door, "Did she fall asleep on her own or was that you?"

"I brought forth happier memories in hopes that she will dream about those the rest of the night"

"Good, she needs it" Clara glanced over her shoulder to the closed door.

"Charles, there's something I need to show you that might require cerebro. It was in Cairo" Hank said.

Charles nodded as Clara felt her heart drop as she remembered a pyramid in her dream, "Of course, lead the way. Clara, are you coming?"

Clara turned to the boys and waved them off, "No, actually, I'm just going to go to bed. Tell me what you find in the morning?"

"Absolutely" Hank nodded as she could tell he wanted to ask more about her vision.

Charles nodded, "Suit yourself, my dear. Good night"

"Night, boys"


	5. Cairo

"Hey! Clara!" came Hank's voice late afternoon.

Clara turned her head, "Oh, hey, Hank. What did you guys find out? Hopefully it's just nothing"

"Yeah, Charles is going to take Alex on a little trip to ask a… past colleague for information" Hank explained, "He wants us to take care of the school"

Clara smirked, "Great! So that means late night parties, booze, and pizza until Charles gets back! Want to call the delivery or should I? Personally, I think I should be the one to handle the booze"

"Sometimes it amazes me how you are older than me" Hank rolled his eyes, "But after seven years of living under the same roof with you, I can now tell you that I know you. You always express a carefree attitude whenever there is something bothering you. I think it has something to do with that group you saw last night"

"Really?" Clara asked.

"You know you can tell me, right?"

"I almost did"

"Until you didn't want to tell Charles"

Clara stopped, "He's got too many things on his mind right now. Especially when he and Alex are going off to investigate something"

Clara turned to walk back down the hall but Hank's hands on her arms made her stop as her body swayed over to the right. She walked into an empty classroom as she heard the door close behind her. Clara turned back around and folded her arms over her chest. She knew it would only be a matter of time before Hank got impatient with her rolling him off the shoulder. Now as Hank walked over and leaned on one of the desks, she could tell that the man wanted answers.

"Something's bothering you"

"I can handle it myself"

"You don't have to" Hank reminded her.

"I'm fine, Hank" Clara brushed off, "I'm just worried about Jean and how her nightmare rubbed onto her badly"

Hank pointed out, "And you said last night that you think it could've been because of you"

Clara sighed, "I don't think, I know. I told you the group of rebels but what I left out was the leader. The man, never seen him before, but I can tell there was something different about him"

"Like what?" Hank asked as he folded his arms over his chest.

"Like he wasn't from this time" Clara answered honestly, "He felt so… ancient"

Hank's eyebrows furrowed, "Like a time traveler"

Clara shook her head, "Time travelers would've still felt out of place, this one felt like he's been around since the beginning of time"

"Like an immortal" Hank slowly nodded, "So if he could outlive time, why did he wait until now to do something catastrophic? What was he doing?"

"You're not going to believe this but… he was in Cairo" Clara looked at Hank, "He was walking over to a pyramid with four others following him"

Hank's face dropped and if it could possibly happen, he turned even more pale. "Why didn't you tell us this before? I told Charles in front of you that I picked up something from Cairo"

Clara's shoulders dropped, "I know but Jean looked very concerning last night and I didn't want to bring it up when I forced my vision. She looked terrified. I can't put myself first when a younger, stronger student is breaking under pressure"

Hank nodded in understanding, "So you think that your powers reacted to how this mutant felt. His presence must've been too much to handle. What about the others?"

"What about them?" Clara asked.

She glanced down to the floor as her mind saw the picture of Erik as he walked behind the man. Clara's always seen his face in a stoic kind of way but this made it look like he was almost dead. Without feeling or a care in the world, she wanted to believe that he was under some sort of mind control but it didn't seem or feel that way in her vision. Erik would do something like what the other mutants were doing in a heartbeat if given the chance and motivation.

Hank continued, "Did you recognize any of them? Maybe just one and we can start on that?"

Clara swallowed as she realized that she could tell Hank about Erik right now. Just get it over with and let Hank blow this vision off for a good hour before coming back for help. She thought about her fork decision, knowing that in his mind, Hank would think that the only reason why she cared so much about the vision was because of Erik.

"No" Clara sighed, "Not anymore"

Hank gave a slight nod as if it was understandable before he glanced up to the clock. He picked up his briefcase and looked over to Clara as she tried her best to not go back on her decision.

"We'll figure this out together" Hank nodded.

Clara agreed, "Hopefully. What did Charles find out about Cairo?"

Hank stopped before saying, "He saw that colleague there during the time for the power surge and thinks that she might have information about it"

Clara picked up her head and looked at Hank.

Clara raised an eyebrow, " _She?_ "

Hank shrugged, "Yeah, she. Her name is Moira Mactaggert. She was here for the Cuba Crisis"

Clara scrunched up her eyebrows together as she wondered how that name sounded so familiar to her. She had a flashback when Raven was lying around and telling stories about Charles and laughed at his puppy dog love for Moira. She kept joking how whenever Raven would ask Charles about Moira, he would just lie and say that her mind was fascinating to look at. At the time, Clara thought it was totally ridiculous how this man could behave around a human to the point that she would laugh with Raven too. Now she just chuckled to herself and shook her head as she wondered how she could forget such a fond moment.

Clara teased, "Are you sure he's just getting information? Sounds like he wants to do something more. You do realize he's going to be bringing her back to the house, right?"

"No, he's more professional than that" Hank scoffed then smirked, "Then again, I wouldn't be surprised"

Clara laughed as Hank couldn't help but chuckle with her. She walked out of the classroom with him and into the busy hallway. She couldn't help but hope that Charles would bring her around. She was now dying to see how beautiful this woman truly was and quite possibly make fun of Charles along the way.

Clara nearly skipped as she said, "So how did he look? Shocked when he first saw her?"

"More like he couldn't form words into complete sentences" Hank chimed in.

Clara giggled as she wished that she could've caught Charles in the act of being lovestruck by her. It seemed pretty interesting to hear and she just regrets not going to Cerebro last night when she had the chance. Clara reached out and patted his arm as Hank looked down to her.

"Thanks for the talk, Hank" she winked, "I really needed it"

"Anytime you need a friend, you know where my lab is" Hank smiled back before he rushed off in that direction.


	6. Unrequited Love

Clara stood outside with her arms folded in front of her as she watched Alex and Scott standing in the front of the drive. She could tell that Scott was being a pain and Alex was trying to reassure him for the 50th time that everything was alright. She couldn't help but wonder if she had a younger sibling, would they be like Alex and Scott? Blessed with powers and be close or would they always constantly bicker like the Summers boys. Even with her parents being taken away from her, would she and her sister still keep in contact?

She turned around and watched as Charles talked to Jubilee about her latest homework assignment. He had a pleasant smile on his face as he patiently waited and heard her endless questions. Clara couldn't help but think about Raven and how difficult it must've been for her to say goodbye. Even though she didn't like it, Raven was always sheltered by Charles and she always said walking away from him was the most difficult thing she has ever done.

Clara sighed as she turned back to the road as everyone waited for Hank to pull around the car. She checked her watch as she realized that her advanced class was about to start soon. She mumbled to herself as she shifted impatiently from foot to foot as she wondered if Hank forgot about bringing the car around to the front.

Just as she thought that, on the left, the car drove carefully up the road and pulled up smoothly to the front of the stairs. Clara rolled her eyes at how Hank was always such a cautious driver even when the students aren't allowed near the garage of the mansion.

With heavy feet, she dropped herself down the stairs and walked over to the car.

"Took you long enough" Clara teased, "Alex could've pulled up to the freeway by now"

Hank scoffed, "No one asked you to get the car"

Clara replied back, "You're right! No one did. Why is that?"

"Because you're such a crazy driver" Hank told her.

Charles called from behind her, "Children, that's enough. Honestly, one day the two of you are thick as thieves and the other you're at each other's throats. I should leave the students in charge of you two. Now, I'll be back sometime tomorrow, do you understand?"

Clara smirked, "Yes, dad"

Charles chose to ignore this comment but rolled his eyes in the end. Alex turned to Scott and gave his brother a hug, which Scott returned with a half-hearted pat on the back. Alex shook his head and placed his glasses on over his eyes as he hugged Hank and went over and shook Clara's hand. Clara turned to Charles as she bent down and gave him a hug, even though she knew he was only going to be gone for roughly 24 hours. She bounced up and joined Hank and Scott by the steps as they stood in a wider circle.

"No parties" Charles pointed at Clara.

She only scoffed and shook her head as from the other side of Hank, Scott could be heard groaning. Clara looked over to the teen still bandaged up around his eyes, even without seeing them, you couldn't really read how the teen was feeling. She turned to Alex who helped the professor into the car. Charles turned to her as she gave him two thumbs up as if that would help him.

Clara called out, "Have a safe trip"

"And don't worry, Clara" Charles responded, "I haven't forgotten about your request and I will do it the second I come back. I promise"

Clara nodded, "You better! Make sure you get home safely. Also, Professor? Don't bring any girls home from your wild road trip. Specifically speaking a certain Moira Mactaggert?"

"Whose Moira Mactaggert? Another teacher?" Scott asked.

Clara continued before Charles had the chance, "A past fling apparently that Charles used to have a thing for in his youthful days"

"I'm going to kill you" Charles threatened as he pointed to Clara, "And no, it was hardly a fling"

Alex smirked, "Hardly? She was drooling all over you even when you explained things that never made any sense. Kind of reminded me of Hank's babels with Raven"

"Let's not get into that" Hank quickly shook his head.

"Wow, unrequited love everywhere" Clara commented.

Charles turned to Alex still standing by the car, "We should get going before her office hours close"

Clara smirked as Charles straightened up in the seat as Alex hopped into the car. Hank and Clara watched as the car drove out down the path and out of sight. She sighed as she turned back around as Hank helped Scott back into the house.

"So no parties?" Scott asked, "This place needs to be lightened up a little bit. Feels like a boarding school here"

"Well, it is a boarding school. We should listen to the Professor"

"And this is why you had no friends in school"

"I didn't have friends because when I was in senior year, I was 12 years old" Hank told her, "Worst moments of my life. I still hate football because of those idiots. I hope they all have pot belly's and no life now"

"Someone is acting _beastly_ "

"That would've made it worse" Hank mumbled, "Especially where I grew up"

Clara couldn't help herself as she said, "You would've looked adorable. All short with blue fur and everything. I think a lot of girls would've wanted you as a cuddle buddy"

"Am I missing something?" Scott asked.

"No, nothing really! Where do you want to go, Scott?" Hank turned his attention to the teenage boy on his arm.

"To my room" Scott answered quickly.

"Why not mingle?" Clara asked.

"No thanks" Scott answered.

"These kids are just like you with only different sort of powers" Clara continued.

"I said I want to just stay in my room!"

"Alright" Hank quickly said, "I'll bring you by there right now. Your glasses are almost done, just give me two more hours and I will get you from your room"

"Sounds good" Scott told him, "I'll wait around until then"

Hank nodded, "Don't worry, we helped your brother controls his powers and we'll do the same for you"


	7. Connected Visions

_**Sorry I haven't updated in awhile!**_ _I went on vacation and have to say that I was dying to come back and write some more! I'm finally here now and hopefully will makeup for the time lost! Enjoy!_

Clara sighed as she tossed another journal into the bin, "I don't even do this kind of crap for myself"

She deeply inhaled before she picked up another journal and flipped to the first page. Clara picked up her coke and drank it, half wishing it was alcohol. She glanced over to the bin on her left as she noticed the ones to be graded was much more filled than the ones she did grade, Clara let out a groan and hung her head. Her front door opened and then suddenly closed, making Clara glance up to see who had come in. Jean Grey stood there with her back nearly to the door as she stared at Clara, almost as if she didn't recognize her.

"Hey, Jean" Clara greeted.

"I need your help" Jean hesitated, "I know you know what I'm about to ask. I know that the Professor has told you about my vision. And I know that I wasn't the only one who had a vision the night I had a nightmare"

"Come away from the door before someone hears you" Clara shushed her as she ushered the woman closer, "These kids don't know that kind of stuff"

Jean rushed over and sat on the chair in front of Clara, "But you do! You saw a vision that meant the end of the world. So did I! The Professor didn't believe me when I told him. I don't even have to read his mind to know that much"

"Okay, when I said to move away from the door, I didn't mean raise your voice" Clara said calmly, "Jean, sometimes visions can come as dreams where people see symbols and it's meant to be something but in the end it's not"

Jean scoffed and shook her head, "But you don't believe that! Even now, I can sense that you're scared of the vision you saw and it's not because of your boyfriend from the past. You sensed the power of that… _mutant_ and knew that he was pure chaotically evil. I tried explaining to the Professor but he won't listen to me"

Clara asked, "And you want me to convince him?"

"Someone has to!" Jean let out in a panicked voice.

Clara sighed as she was about to tell Jean nearly exactly what Charles had told her a couple of days ago but then it stopped in her throat. What he said didn't settle with Clara at all and she knew this wouldn't help calm Jean also. She looked at the woman's grey, hopeful eyes as Clara noticed that Jean came to her as her last hope. She didn't hae the heart to turn the teenager away when that's what Charles did to her.

Clara leaned back in her seat, "What did you see?"

Jean blinked as she said, "Buildings were torn down, screaming people, and death with fire all around"

"What?" Clara glanced up, "Fire as in someone was creating the fire?"

"I couldn't tell, but it was dark and had the sole purpose to destroy"

Clara tensed up, "Like an inferno"

Clara felt her heart sink as she knew only one person who could cause destruction by fire… herself. She twirled her ring around and around on her finger as her mind went into a far off-daze. She has fallen to Erik's seducing commands before when he wanted her to do something similar to that.

"It wasn't you" Jean let out, sensing her thoughts, "I think it was me. I've been feeling this new power grow inside of me. Almost every time I lose control of my powers, something inside of me is controlling it. Wanting me to lose myself to my powers. I hate to say this but each time I lose control, it seems happy. Enjoying that I can't do anything about it"

"Are you saying that there's another mind within you?" Clara asked carefully.

Jean snapped her eyes over to her, "I'm not schizophrenic"

"I didn't say that" Clara waved out her hands.

Jean only gave her a look before she raised her eyebrow. Clara sighed and rolled her eyes and nodded.

"Okay, I might've thought it" Clara told her.

"Can you help me?" Jean finally asked.

Clara answered, "I'm not even too sure I can"

Jean sighed, "So you're just not going to do anything then"

Clara looked to her, "I meant that I can't help you because I've already tried. The first time I had a vision Charles blew it off and didn't want to help, just like you, I know that Charles isn't going to go to Cerebro anytime soon because he thinks that's what's best for me"

Jean shook her head, "But he's wasting time"

Clara scoffed, "You're preaching to the choir"

Jean glanced over to her, "Try again. Try to get another vision and this time have him be near to see how urgent the matter is"

Clara picked herself up and leaned herself onto the desk and stared at the girl in front of her.

Clara raised her eyebrow, "And what about you? I can't just do that and risk you tapping into my mind again"

"Do it when I'm awake"

"Jean…" Clara shook her head, "Those visions were intense. Probably the most intense that I've felt since having visions"

Jean's eyes softened as she sensed her fear, "You're scared for Erik. You've never seen him like this before and it terrifies you. You're scared of what he's become-"

Clara cut her off, "Please don't read my mind"

Jean blinked, "Sorry"

Clara shook her head, "It's alright"

"Aren't you scared to know what will happen if you don't intervene?" Jean prodded, "Maybe your visions are telling you what will happen if you do nothing. Whether you conjured them or not, our connected visions are trying to tell us both the same thing. They're trying to tell us that the end of the world is coming"

Clara sighed, "That's what I was afraid of"

"We have to tell the Professor. He doesn't have visions like we do" Jean told her, "Either way, we're running out of time. If we wait any longer than it might be too late"

"And not just for Erik"

"For the entire world. This being wasn't like anything I've ever felt and his mind is ancient. It's not evolved to the changes that have happened now. Who knows what he's got planned for us"

"Alright, I'll talk to Charles" Clara nodded, "He'll be back in the afternoon"

Jean looked uneasy, "You actually will do this for me? You don't think I'm crazy? You're not going to brush this off and hope that I will stop ranting about this? You will actually help me"

"If I can't get Charles to see what's about to happen in the near future than I will do everything in my power to stop it from happening myself" Clara promised.


	8. Strained Relationships

Clara walked through the boys dorm section, where it smelled of dirty socks, pizza, and cheap air freshener to try and cover up the smell. After Clara gave off a warning to the boys to keep it smelling nice and fresh, she went back to her original task. She came across what seemed to be the only closed door in the hall before she tapped on it with her knuckle. Clara glanced down the hallway before looking back to the door, hearing some sort of scuffle within the room. After a couple of seconds, she heard something bang as the voice shouted out a curse word.

"Come in!" the person yelled out.

"You alright?" Clara asked once she stepped into the room.

She opened the door to see Scott leaning on the desk as he rubbed his toe with a pained expression on his mouth. Even though the room was clean, she could tell that he wasn't used to his new surroundings. Clara could've just come into the room but she knew that it wouldn't give Scott the freedom that he desired. She watched as he got up and limped into the center of the room.

Clara examined which direction he was going before she quickly ran up to him and grabbed him by the shoulders. She slowly guided him away from the wardrobe and back over to his bed. Scott let out a tired sigh as he sat down on the unmade bed with a plop.

She glanced around before she found his shoes and slid them closer to his feet. Clara then took a step back before glancing out of the window.

She cleared her throat, "Hank has your glasses ready for you"

Scott straightened up but then scoffed and slumped right down as if he gave up on the thought.

"What does it matter?" Scott asked, "My eyes are too powerful to even open them ever again"

Clara shrugged, "I don't know… Hank's the miracle worker around here"

Scott was silent for a moment, "You've seen him do it. Help people like me"

"Ever since I've been here" Clara told him, "The biggest proof should be your brother. If that doesn't convince you then I don't know what will"

"I wouldn't know" Scott shrugged his shoulders.

Clara's eyebrows furrowed together, "Why is that?"

Scott sighed as he put on his shoes, "Because ever since I could remember, Alex has always avoided me. Locked himself inside his room, avoids me whenever we're in the same room, and I remember one time he was supposed to look after me when our parents left town for the weekend and he just left the house himself. That wasn't long before he got himself into solitary confinement"

"Sounds like he was trying to protect you" Clara answered honestly.

"Had a funny way of showing it" Scott scoffed.

Clara straightened herself up, "Alright, say you had your powers before he did and you didn't know how to control it. But you don't know how to tell you parents because it sounds like something that comes from comic books so you keep it hidden to yourself"

Scott stayed silent before he asked, "Did you know my brother before now?"

Clara shook her head, "No, but I can relate. My powers developed when I was in the orphanage with two friends that were the closest thing I had to sisters. I felt scared that one day I would set their mattresses on fire or they would call me a freak. I tried avoiding them but like what happened to you and Alex, they ended up despising me in the end. I want to say that it was because of my powers that made me run out the door but it actually was because I couldn't bear seeing them glare at me from across the room anymore"

"Really?"

"Yeah"

Scott sighed, "I guess Alex can relate"

"And you can do well enough to try and have a solid relationship with him from here on out" Clara told him.

Scott mumbled, "That won't be so easy"

Clara remarked, "Nothing is at first. Still, no day like today, right?"

"So, off to see what these glasses are all about" Scott jumped up from his bed, "You really think this guy pulled it off? What if they don't work?"

Clara offered up her hand in which Scott took it as she wrapped them arm in arm. She carefully guided the boy out of his room and down to the backyard where Hank was waiting for them. She didn't want to say what would happen if the glasses didn't work because frankly, she's never seen any of Hank's final experiments go wrong. Clara has seen the man draw up blueprints of equipment in the morning, build in the afternoon, and have it running by nighttime. Even if they do end up wrong, he doesn't let his failed experiments get the best of him.

Clara patted him on the hand, "We'll dust ourselves off and try again. Trust me on this, Scott. Alex wouldn't bring you here if he had total and complete confidence in this school. Got it?"

"Is the Professor still mad that I split his favorite tree in half?"

"Of course not!"

Scott asked, "Are you sure? He seemed to enjoy the story he told us. Sounded like I did a lot of damage"

Clara shrugged, "Well, if he's so bummed about it then he can always plant a new tree. Besides, you gave us one more free space to put an obstacle course for my physical education class. For that, I thank you"

Scott chuckled, "When I get to see again, remind me to take one of your classes. You sound like an awesome teacher"

Clara leaned and said, "I'm one of the best!"

The pair finally walked over to Hank as he said, "Took you long enough. Scott could've had his vision back by now. What did you guys stop to eat lunch or something?"

"Ha ha, very funny"

"Touche?"

"Touche" Clara rolled her eyes.

"Thanks for leading me over here and that talk" Scott told Clara.

Clara smiled at the teen, "Any time! I will leave you in Hank's hands and he will prove to you that I was right"

"And what's that?" Hank asked.

"Nothing!" Clara winked at Hank.

Hank rolled his eyes, "Whatever. It's your turn to make the rounds by the way"

"Unfortunately" Clara sighed before she made a face, "You should've smelled the boys dorm section. It was like they were trying to cover up a murder scene"

"I didn't smell anything" Scott piped up.

Hank and Clara exchanged a look before Clara said, "Okay, I'm going to go!"

Hank waved, "I will catch you later"


	9. Old Friend

A student stopped Clara in the halls, "Miss Clara, you'll never guess who's here!"

Clara was about to ask but then suddenly stopped in her tracks as she looked at the main entrance. There standing awkwardly was Raven, in her "human" form anyways. The woman blinked in surprise as she too was shocked to see Clara standing in the halls of her former brother's home.

Raven looked to her, "Clara? What are you doing here?"

"How the hell have you been!" Clara beamed as she crossed the distance and hugged Raven tightly, "I work here now! I'm their physical education teacher"

"Of course you are" Raven rolled her eyes.

"What brings you here?" Clara asked.

Raven hesitated before she said, "Erik"

Clara felt frozen in place before she asked, "Is everything alright? I had a vision a couple of days ago about him but I couldn't see much"

"I don't think I should tell you that" Raven took a step back.

Before Raven could look around her, Clara took her off to the side and stood close to her. She could almost see that Raven could see how worried she was about Erik.

"Spare me the safety net, alright, Raven? Something bad is going to happen to him and I need to know what you aren't telling me" Clara urged.

Raven sighed before she said, "He's killing again"

"What?" Clara blinked, "But he has a wife and daughter now, he wouldn't give up the life he has for the world"

Even though Clara said this, after all these years, she still didn't want to believe that he was happy without her.

"That's because they've been murdered" Raven informed her, "His daughter was one of us and while they were taking him away she lost control. Something happened and they both died in front of him"

Clara gawked before she leaned herself into the pillar and stood there. All the envy and hatred she felt for the wife burned away as she couldn't believe what she heard. She couldn't bear the thought of losing both her husband and child the same day. A hand went onto her arm as Raven gripped it in a comforting manner.

"So that's why" Clara finally said.

Raven looked confused before she nodded, "You had a vision of him. I'm sorry for you to see all of that. I know how much he meant to you"

Clara waved it off, "That's in the past. Don't dwell too much on it"

Clara picked herself up from the corner and walked back over to the main entrance. Raven followed her, almost unsure.

Raven whispered, "Did you tell Charles about them?"

"One of the visions, didn't really have time to say the other one" Clara told her.

"Well, where is he?" Raven asked, "I need to tell him what happened. He needs to know that Erik is killing with grief"

"He'll be in in just a couple of hours" Clara informed her.

Clara watched as Raven looked around the school, but not at the surroundings, more like at the people.

Clara said in a light voice, "He's outside if you want to see him"

"No" Raven shook her head.

"I know it's who you want to see the most" Clara still didn't give up.

Raven sighed, "It's best if I don't go near him, each time makes it harder and harder to leave"

"So don't leave this time. Or do what I do and leave during the break and come back. Has been working for me now after all these years. What's so hard about coming home to the man you-"

Raven gave her a warning look, making Clara stop. She knew since the day that she's joined the brotherhood that Raven still thinks about Hank. Somedays she wanted to call the mansion just to hear his voice. After living in the mansion for some time, Clara has now seen that the feeling is mutual for Hank. It was only when she noticed the hopeless look in his eyes did Clara really start to pity him.

"Raven" came a voice behind her.

Clara turned and looked at Hank walking up to Raven and her. She couldn't help but see the light shine in his eyes as he stood next to Clara. She wanted to tell him to not think for the best that Raven had finally come home. She knew as well as anyone that Raven had a wanderlust even more than Clara herself.

Hank smiled, "Wow. Um… I… You're…"

Raven cut him off, "Not blue? Looks like you and I have that in common, now"

"No, no, I meant, um… you're back" Hank stammered as Clara glared at Raven's first words to Hank, "Never thought I'd see you here again"

Raven nodded, "Yeah, me neither"

The teenager that came in with Raven leaned in, "I'm blue. I'm Kurt"

"Oh, right" Raven quickly said.

"Kurt Wagner" Kurt offered up his hand.

"Welcome" Hank said in his professional tone.

Clara smiled to Kurt, "Kurt, I think Hank, Raven, and I need to talk in private for a while. Do you want to use one of the spare rooms to get some rest in?"

Kurt shook his head, "I am not tired right now, thank you. I am actually very interested in this place"

"Okay then!" Clara turned and looked over her shoulder, "Jubilee, can you come here please!"

Jubilee walked over with a smile on her face, "Yes, Miss Clara?"

"I see you don't have your book and backpack right now. Are you on your free period?" Clara asked.

Jubilee nodded, "I would have Professor Xavier's class after this free time but he told us that he won't be in for a couple of hours"

"Perfect!" Clara wrapped her arm around Jubilee's shoulders, "This is Kurt Wagner and he is new here. Would you mind showing him the place while we grown ups have a little chit-chat?"

"Sure!" Jubilee beamed, "It's awesome here, Kurt! You'll love it"

Kurt nodded and said, "Thank you"

He turned around and waved to Raven who hesitated before waving back, "Keep your tail low"

"I'll try" Kurt told her, "Thank you for everything, Mystique"


	10. Almost Lovers

Raven looked around as Clara and Hank walked into the room, "Wow"

Hank stared up at the plane, "Hypersonic, blast resistant, stealth technology"

"That's impressive" Raven grinned, "How are you ever going to get it out of here?"

Hank sighed as he bowed down his head as if he forgot that small little detail. Clara walked over to the table on the side and leaned onto it as she crossed her arms over her chest. She couldn't help but smile to herself at the two being back in the same room together. She could practically feel the magnetic pull of attraction toward one another. Just seeing these two together almost made her wish that she could've been around to see how flirtatious they acted toward one another when they were younger.

Hank turned to her, "Well, that's okay! I built a retractable roof into the basketball court"

Raven looked over to him, "Hank, you're building a warplane down here"

"After what happened in Washington, I thought we were going to come back and start the X-Men, like we used to talk about" Hank explained, "But…"

Raven finished his sentence, "Charles wants students, not soldiers"

Hank cut in, "And he thinks the best of people. He has hope"

"And you?" Raven asked.

Hank thought for a moment before he said, "You know, I think we should hope for the best and prepare for the worst. I think the world needs the X- Men and maybe now that you're back, you could help me and Clara convince him. We could start it together-"

"Hank, I'm here about Erik" Raven cut in, making Clara sit up.

Hank smiled a dark smile as he nodded, "Right, Erik. Yeah, of course. Of course!"

"I think he might be in some kind of trouble" Raven told him, " _Real_ trouble"

"Well, isn't he always?" Hank turned back to her.

Raven seemed surprised to see this side of Hank, but not Clara. She's seen it over the years and knew better to not bring up Erik around Hank. He turned and glanced over to Clara as she quickly dropped down her gaze to her feet. She felt that if Hank looked into her eyes, he would see that she too was worried about her past flame.

The tension in the room was almost so dense that it could make the warplane explode just by sheer force. Clara knew she should've warned Raven to not tell Hank about Erik. Now she couldn't help but wish that she had chosen to show Kurt around the Mansion.

"This time it's serious" Raven finally said, "Even Clara had a-"

"Theory!" Clara shouted out, her words echoing in the vast room as they both turned to her, "Theory that… we should use cerebro to check up on him. Just to play it on the safe side and not intervene"

Raven looked to Clara, confused at how she lied to Hank but she refused to look at the shapeshifter. Hank scoffed as he shook his head and ran a hand through his hair.

Hank turned to Clara, "Of course you would think that. You've loved him for a very long time. He's like a drug to you, Clara, a disease that lies dormant inside of you. Do you remember the time you told me how he would bring you close to you but then leave and give you the cold shoulder? You said you would be better off without him and now Raven brings up his name and you want to help him? After all he's done to you?"

"I told you, I don't want to be in the same room with him"

"Hank, I was tipped that he is in a downward spiral" Raven cut in, "He needs his friends"

Hank scoffed, "Friends? I haven't once thought of him as a friend since the day he first put on that helmet and backstabbed us all"

Hank then turned and walked out of the room and left the two alone.

Raven shook her head, "I've never seen him like this. I've never known Hank to harbor such emotions like that. It's almost strange to see him angry"

Clara sighed and nodded as she glanced down the hallway. Hank had marched so fast out of the room that she couldn't even see him down the hall. She knew to give him space to recuperate, also it must be hard on him to know the girl he loved was here for another man, not to come back. Clara placed her thumbs in the back loop of her pants as she joined Raven.

"Between Charles, you, and me he's felt that Erik leaves nothing but pain in the end" Clara told her, "He's just trying to protect the ones he cares about. He'll come around when he knows it's inevitable"

Raven nodded almost as if she had forgotten Hank's point of view with that man. She then turned her attention back to Clara and folded her arms over her chest.

Raven asked, "You never told Hank about your vision of Erik, did you? Why are you hiding it from him?"

Clara nodded over to the hallway, "Because I know how he would react"

Raven sighed, "You know it's only going to get worse if you keep this from him. You should've just told him now while you had the chance. Either way, Hank will be upset about hearing about Erik but he's got to move on"

Clara formed a tight line, "That's why I want to nip this in the butt before it gets worse"

Raven looked back down the hallway, "Hopefully we won't be too late"

"So… Kurt" Clara looked at Raven who looked over in surprise, "Oh, come on, Raven, don't act like I wasn't born yesterday. I was there when you and Azazel were in a relationship, remember? You are blue in your original form, Azazel has a tail and Kurt seems to have both. What power does he have? Shapeshifting? Teleporting? Both?"

Raven was quiet for a few moments before she sighed, "Alright, he's my son. I've been trying to locate him for the longest time after Azazel was murdered. After I saw confirmation files in Trask's office, I just felt like a part of me was missing. That I missed _him._ But Kurt was in the circus before he eventually was captured for a fighting rink"

"Are you going to tell him?" Clara asked.

"I was planning to" Raven sighed, "But now being next to him, I can't even look into his eyes without thinking of the night I gave him up"

Clara leaned in and rubbed Raven's back, "I'm sure you had your reasons then and you have your reasons to be with him now"

Raven rubbed her lips together before she turned to Clara and hugged her tightly. Clara wrapped her arms around her friend and held her close as Raven tried her best to fight back tears. She knew how much she missed Azazel and even now it was difficult to know that he was no longer with them. It was moments like this where she missed Raven, comforting each other when they needed it the most, she couldn't help but feel like being at Charles' mansion was fate knowing that Raven still harbored grief over her first love. Raven broke the hug as she wiped her cheeks and sniffed.

Raven shook her head, "I don't know what to tell him"

Clara didn't say anything as she led Raven out of the room and slowly to the elevator. She wanted to tell her friend that she didn't have to tell him right away, she still had time. But in her heart, she knew that Raven already knew that. Still, now that she finally had her son back, maybe there was a part of her that actually wanted to be with someone as close to her as family.

"It must've been hard for you too" Raven sniffed, "Seeing Erik with a wife and child, knowing that was what you wanted. Kind of ironic, isn't it?"

Clara nodded, "Pissed me off for the most part"

"Why's that?"

Clara pressed on the button for the elevator as she sighed. She didn't want to harbor any negative feelings for the dead but she couldn't help it. She envied Erik's wife for so long that she couldn't help but still feel dread when she thought about her.

Clara confessed, "I kept checking in on him after he found me in Poland so I practically saw their relationship blossom and grow"

Raven looked over to her, "Wow, you actually wanted to see that? I don't think I would be able to stomach it"

Clara gave a small smile as the doors opened before the pair went inside. She leaned into the wall as Raven stood next to her.

"My powers went out of control for a little bit, Charles said that my mind was so used to thinking about Erik in a vision that whenever I had one it would show a piece of his future whether I wanted to see it or not" Clara confessed.

Raven remarked, "That sucks"

"Tell me about it" Clara sighed.

"Must've been difficult for you" Raven watched her friend.

"You know, that was the first time I truly hated my powers. I actually wished that I couldn't do the things I can do" Clara sighed, "For the first time in my life, I wanted to be a normal woman wondering what the future was like instead of gazing into the fire and actually seeing it happen. Mainly because of the pull he has on me"

"Even after all these years?" Raven asked.

Clara was silent before she said, "Even after all these years"

Clara and Raven looked to each other as the door slid open and they both walked out into the mansion.

Raven asked, "So what now? Don't you have a class to teach? I can't believe Charles is actually letting you teach a class on fitness"

Clara shrugged, "He has to put a yes on the activities we do"

"There's the catch!"

"You know, I still haven't heard back from him on the bungee jumping"


	11. Ancient

Hank walked up to the pair, "He's back. Take a seat in his office"

Raven looked to Hank, "Am I just another client now? Come on, Hank"

Clara cleared her throat, "Can this wait?"

Charles was heard from outside of the room, "Hank, Clara! Are you in here? I'd like you to meet-"

"Moira" Raven said in surprise as a woman with dark brown hair and chestnut eyes came in after Charles.

"Raven" Charles looked confused to see her.

Moira smiled kindly, "I'm sorry, have we met?"

Charles stammered, "Uh… Hank, Alex,Clara, and Agent Mactaggert would you give us just one moment, please?"

"Of course" Moira said as Clara rushed out of the room.

"Hi, I'm Moira Mactaggert" Moira smiled and held out her hand to Clara, "I believe you're the one he called Clara"

Clara smiled, "Yes, I am! So glad to finally see you"

Hank slightly hit Clara on the back, making her correct herself, "Meet you!"

Moira seemed to have noticed the difference but then just smiled politely as Alex led them to a couch. Clara sat down on the couch with Moira while Alex and Hank sat on the chairs opposite of them. She glanced over to the closed door and wondered how things were going between the two. Clara just hoped that Raven would be able to hold back her tongue the way she failed to do with Hank. She turned and looked over to Hank who was trying to make a conversation with the woman sitting right next to her.

"How's Scott doing?" Alex asked.

"The ruby quartz glasses were a success"

"He's not sulking in his room"

Alex looked to Clara, "What?"

"Last I checked he was wandering around the grounds with Jean. It's a good thing too, she doesn't really have any friends here" Clara told him, "I think he's fitting in"

Alex scoffed, "That's the last thing we need. Scott's always been a major flirt. He's got a thing for redheads too. Just hope that the girl knows what she's getting into. Scott can be a pain in the ass sometimes"

Clara shrugged, "I don't know. She's more powerful than you'll ever know"

"As long as he's fitting in that's all that matters to me" Alex smiled.

"You know, I could really use the bathroom. Excuse me" Moira said, "I already saw where it is. Please, if the Professor comes back, tell him to wait for me"

Clara watched her go before she said, "So that's Moira"

"In the flesh" Hank remarked.

Alex smirked, "It was awkward seeing them together. Charles was all over the place and I think Moira thought it was cute"

"Young love" Clara sighed before turning to Hank, "What about you, Hank? Are you over being mad at Raven? You seemed kind of harsh. She would've done the same for you if the tables were turned. You know that"

Hank sighed before the door opened Raven and Charles came out, "Where's Moira? We need to go to Cerebro"

Clara jumped up, "Oh, so now we get to use Cerebro!"

"Sorry but I didn't think your vision of Erik would entail this" Charles told her.

"Wait a minute! You had a vision of Erik and you never…" Hank stopped before he turned to Alex, "And you, did you see him last week or something?"

Clara stopped as she turned to Hank before he looked back to her with the darkest eyes she's ever seen laid on her. She was about to justify her actions but the look of betrayal made her stop. Hank shook his head and let out a huff as he walked past Clara and marched by Moira who quickly moved out of his way. Moira turned around and slowly let her eyes rest on Charles with wide eyes.

"Whose Erik?" Moira asked.

Charles rode right by as he said, "Let's just say he's a very old and complicated friend"

* * *

The blue doors whirred open as Charles, Moira, Alex, Raven and Clara walked into Cerebro where Hank was already waiting for them. He seemed to only looked to Charles, Moira and Alex while they walked up to him. He handed the helmet over to Charles as Raven and Clara looked to each other.

"Moira, I'm going to have to ask you to keep this a secret" Charles called over his shoulder.

Moira glanced around, "I don't even know what this is"

Raven smiled, "It's cerebro. The new model"

Hank couldn't stop himself, "I based the color on… It doesn't matter"

Charles sighed as he placed the helmet over his head as Clara waited as the beeping was heard overhead. A flash of blue light beamed around them as overlapping human figures ran about them.

Clara giggled as Raven was nearly on the floor from not being prepared for the "new model".

Moira asked from the back, "What are those?"

Charles spoke up, "Those are all the humans of the world"

Raven slowly straightened up as Clara smirked and winked at her friend. Raven then playfully nudged her as she looked around Cerebro. Clara turned to Hank to give the compliments to the genius but he still avoided her gaze. Clara opened her mouth to speak just as cerebro glared red with fewer humans around them.

"And these are all the mutants" Charles finished, "I'm connected to all of their minds"

"The CIA would kill for this" Moira chuckled.

Charles answered back, "I know they would. Where are you, Erik?"

"Hello, old friend" Charles said after a few moments of silence, making Clara gasp as her heart skipped a beat before Charles sighed, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! I feel your pain and your loss"

"What happened to them was terribly wrong but come back to us. I can help you" Charles said as Clara felt a tear run down her cheek.

Charles scooted up in his chair, "Think of your wife, think of your daughter. What would they have wanted?"

Charles turned slightly, "Hank, Clara… he's not alone"

Clara and Hank both exchanged a look as they both have never heard Charles this worried before. Hank turned back to Cerebro as he tried to lock in the coordinates in order to narrow down who was with him.

Clara turned to him, "Charles, I had a vision of another mutant, he felt-"

"Ancient" Charles finished for her.

"Sever your connection with Erik" Clara warned.

Cerebro started to whir out of control as Hank bent down, "Hey, Charles, wait"

Charles gasped, "Oh, my God"

"Charles!" Clara yelled out looked up as Cerebro changed it's color from ruby red to purple.

Hank grabbed onto Charles, "Charles, get out!"

Charles' eyes turned jet black, "I've never felt power like this before"

"Charles… Charles, get out of there" Hank urged.

"What's going on? What's happening?" Moira asked.

"I think… someone's taken over Cerebro" Hank said as he tried the dials once more.

"They've taken control of it" Clara looked to Hank, "To do what?"

Hank turned with a panicked expression on his face, "To connect"

Clara turned and looked back down to Charles who stared off into space with his eyes still jet black. She bent down and waved her hand over his face but still nothing. A smile was placed on his face but it didn't match the smiles she had seen over the years. She turned and looked to Hank who started slamming his fists down onto the machine but nothing helped. Clara glanced up to the helmet over Charles' head as she reached up to pull it off.

A deeper voice spoke through Charles' lips making Clara jump back, "Always the same and now, all this. No more stones. No more spears"

Clara looked up at everyone who seemed now terrified of Charles. The man himself didn't even look like he was aware of what he was saying. This only made Clara even more worried as now someone had taken control of Charles mentally. She now regretted urging Charles for so long now to use Cerebro.

Charles continued, "No more slings"

Clara turned around and opened up a latch with a big read button. She glanced over to Hank who was watching her before he nodded. Her hand raised over her head before she slammed it down on the emergency shutdown button… but nothing happened.

"No more swords" Charles shouted, "No more weapons! No more systems! No more! No more superpowers"

Hank screamed at him, "Charles!"

"Hank!" Raven screamed out.

Hank didn't listen as he reached out and grabbed onto Charles' helmet. When he tried to rip it off, an electrifying zap was heard as Charles let out a horrifying scream.

"What the hell are you doing?" Clara panicked, "You could've made him brain damaged"

Hank turned to Clara, "He's not himself, someone is using Cerebro to do something"

"He's right, the more he stays in there the more dangerous he is to the world" Alex chimed in.


	12. Explosion

"Hank, do something!"

Raven grabbed onto Charles as she screamed his name over and over again to come back to them. Hank punched through the machine's scream and pulled up a few wires as he tried to find the one. Clara glanced up to the walls of Cerebro as she noticed just now that she couldn't even see any of the humans or mutants displayed in the room. She turned back to Charles as he started to groan and form his hands into fists. She could tell that he was fighting back but just sitting here by him made Clara almost feel next to useless.

Hank started to get frustrated as he pulled out the wires at random now, not caring if it could hurt Charles or not. The man was already screaming in his wheelchair as Raven gripped onto him to help support him. Hank threw down the wires in annoyance as even the most clever man in the world had run out of ideas. He turned to everyone who just stood there, helplessly watching Charles become a mindless victim to this unknown.

"It won't shut down!"

Clara looked around, "If it won't shut down and someone is blocking us from taking the helmet off his head! What the hell is going on!?"

"Destroy it!" Raven shouted out.

Clara turned to her, "What?! This is the mansion's prized possession"

Raven gripped onto her, "Fuck the prized possession. My brother is in danger!"

"I have pyrokinesis, that's only fire, even if I could I can't make it into solid energy" Clara told her.

"Alex…"

"What?"

Charles strained, "Destroy it! Destroy everything. Destroy Cerebro!"

Charles let out a painful yell as Alex didn't even ask twice about the Professor's decision. He moved himself to the front as he held onto the panel for support. Clara dragged Raven back as she knew the woman would urge Alex to stop if Cerebro hurt him more than the helmet did.

Raven held onto Clara as her nails dug deep into her skin but the feeling didn't seem to make her feel in pain. She watched as Charles leaned over and grabbed onto Alex for his attention.

Alex turned around and glanced down to him as everyone in the room heard him utter out his words.

"Wreak havoc!"

Alex let out a scream as energy shot out from his chest, the same ruby red as his brothers. Raven moved to be next to her brother but Clara held her in place and steered her away. She held her in a bear hug as Raven let out a scream but didn't try to pry Clara off of her. Clara turned back around as she saw the agony written all over Charles' face.

Alex turned and shot out his energy beams into the other sides of Cerebro. The tiles started to bring and clatter down to the ground.

As soon as the connection was lost, Hank yanked off the helmet and wheeled him out into the hallway before he kneeled next to him, "Charles, are you okay?"

Down the hall, a sort of rumbling could be heard. Clara turned as she noticed a purple force field had materialized. She turned and looked down to Charles unconscious and limp in his chair. Seeing her friend like that mad her angry as she turned around and formed flames in her hands. Everyone moved away from her as she brushed by to the front of the group, waiting for the mutant to come "I got this"

But nothing could prepare her for Erik to stand there with the group of unknown mutants. For a moment, it looked like he too was surprised to see Clara standing there amongst Charles and his friends. The thought to attack the threat left her mind as her fire dimmed within her hands, "Erik?"

Erik waved out his hand as something moved past Clara. Raven shouted out, "Charles!"

"Alex!" Hank shouted as the man ran past him.

"Hey! Hey, asshole!" Alex yelled out.

"All will be revealed, my child" the mutant said.

"Stop!" Hank commanded Alex, "No!"

Clara suddenly realized why Hank wanted him to stop as she remembered the jet was in the garage. The reason why Hank never lets Clara into their because of her power. She let out a gasp as she saw Alex kneel down and groan as he summoned up his power. Clara gasped as she placed her hands over her mouth.

Hank had tried to reach Alex in time but it was too late, Alex had shot off a warning blast to the group just as they left. Clara watched almost in slow motion as the energy shot into the jetplane at the other end of the hall.

An explosion sounded in her eardrums as the blast blinded her eyes as she waved out her hand in a desperate attempt to control the explosive fire faster than it could destroy the entire school.

Within a blink of an eye, she was suddenly outside of the school, in pain at least. Clara doubled over as a random act of quesiness over took her. She actually wanted to puke just to get it over with. She took in a deep breath but that let in the smell of burnt wood come to her senses as she straightened up.

Clara groaned, "Oh my God"

"What happened?" Moira moaned, "I feel like I'm going to vomit"

Clara stared at the empty space that has been her home for so long now turned to a pile of ash. A tear fell down her cheek as she took a step closer, somehow not believing that this is happening.

"Wow!" a silver-haired teenager beside her muttered.

Clara looked him up and down, "Where did you…"

He turned to her, "I was looking for the Professor I thought he lived here"

"They took him" Hank said from behind Clara.

"She's the one. It's her" a student whispered.

"Are you sure?"

A little boy came up to Clara, "Is she going to help us?"

A girl smiled, "Wow"

Mystique turned and looked to Hank as he said, "They look up to you. Right now, they need you"

"That's not what they need" Raven told him as she changed into her human form.

"Whoa! That's awesome!"

A car rolled up to the side of the road as Clara turned and noticed Scott running towards them, "What happened? Where's Alex? Where's my brother?"

"Pretty sure I got everybody" the teenager said.

"Alex was closest to the blast" Clara noticed.

She looked up and didn't even need eye expressions to know that Scott had heard her. She watched as the boy took off running to the rubble. Clara ran a hand through her hair and sighed as she didn't have to follow the kid to wonder about the fate of her brother. Alex has to be dead, no one could live through that kind of blast. She was just sorry to have Scott be here to witness his brother's passing.

Clara huffed, "I'm such an idiot"

Clara turned around and kicked a piece of gravel away from here as she started to pace around. She was the one who volunteered to take on the mutant, she stopped the second she saw Erik, and she knew there was a plane behind them. If she hadn't been so shocked about Erik, maybe Alex would have been alive, and the mansion not destroyed. Clara glanced up to the destruction, maybe even Charles would still be here.

Clara heard something chopping the air as she turned around and noticed a helicopter in the distance. She furrowed her eyebrows and shielded them from the sun but couldn't tell that it said. Still, an uneasy feeling overcame her as the chopper came closer and closer.

Raven was beside her, "You see that?"

Clara nodded, "Since when do helicopters come to a destruction site so fast? Be alert, Mystique"

"You too, Ember" Raven told her.

Clara turned to Raven as she formed her jaw and gave a nod. It would've taken helicopters 20 minutes or less to come to a site like this.

"Please remain calm" an automatic speaker repeated as the chopper landed, "Medical assistance is on the way"

She watched closely as she noticed the soldiers coming out with guns instead of medical bags.

Moira waved her hand over her head, "Hey! Moira Mactaggert! CIA! Thank God you're here!"

"Wait!" Raven shouted next to her.

"Fire!"

And then everything went black.


	13. Taken

The first thing Clara felt was the pain in her neck as she let out a slight groan. She must've slept on the wrong side of the bed again she thought as she turned and felt her nose hit the grated floor. She quickly opened her eyes and noticed that she wasn't in her bed at all but on the floor as she realized all of the memories were coming back. Clara stiffened up as she slowly began to get up and look around at everyone accounted for. Just as she was looking around, the silver-haired teenager jumped to his feet and screamed.

"What?"

"What's wrong with you?" the guy asked Hank, "Is that gonna happen to all of us?"

"No, I just left my meds at the house" Hank groaned.

Moira got up, "What happened? Where are we?"

Raven looked up and shouted, "Hey!"

She looked up to see a man speak through a speaker hidden in the room, "Hello, Mystique"

"Major Stryker" Raven mocked.

"Colonel Stryker" Stryker corrected, "I wouldn't get too close to the wall, if I were you. It may create some discomfort"

Moira walked up to the front, "I'm Moira Mactaggert. I'm a senior officer at the CIA"

"I know who you are, Agent Mactaggert" Stryker told her.

"You can not keep me here, in this-" She looked around.

"Actually I can" Stryker told her, "A psychic event just destroyed every nuke from here to Moscow. That event emanated from exactly where we found you at the home of the world's most powerful psychic. So, you're going to tell me, where is Charles Xavier?"

"It's not him you should be worried about" Moira hinted, "There's someone else. Someone more powerful"

Raven forced out, "If you let us out of here, we can help you"

Stryker smirked, "Do you really expect me to believe that? You can put on any face you want, but I know who you are. What you are"

Clara rolled her eyes as Stryker turned off the speaker and left the room before Hank said, "Hey, Moira, um… what did you mean when you said someone more powerful than Charles?"

"That mutant who came with your friend is someone who is believed to be the world's first mutant" Moira sighed.

Clara sighed as she rubbed the bridge of her nose and shook her head. She knew she had a sense of how old the mutant was. In her vision, she practically felt how ancient her was as she slammed her hand down. Clara bit her lip and shook her head as the tally of the things she should've done right are piling up.

Clara muttered, "He _is_ the world's first mutant"

"What can he do?" Raven asked, "Is he immortal?"

"Worse, he can absorb other mutant powers while he transfers his body to theirs" Moira told him.

Clara sighed, "I can't believe Erik would do this. He may have it out for humans but he would never take Charles hostage. The second I get out of this place I'm going to melt that ancient mutant's face clean off! I swear if Erik brought Charles to that man to hurt him, he's going to wish he was actually burning in hell"

"Of course you're always thinking about Erik before anyone else" Hank muttered.

"Hank, leave her alone!"

Clara shook her head to him, "I'm sorry I lied to you, I knew you would react this way! Now can we worry about Charles, please!?"

Hank stopped as he stared at Clara for a few moments before they broke eye contact and she turned to the other side of the cell. Clara looked around the light green wires as she wondered if she should use herself as bait to see what these lights could do. From beside her, the silver-haired young man stood next to her but seemed more interested in her than the walls.

"You wanna ask something?" Clara asked.

"You know him? Magneto?" he asked.

"I used to" Clara answered honestly, "Not so sure anymore"

The guy pressured on, "What was he like? Was he, uh… Like they say he was? Was he… the bad guy?"

"No" Clara shook her head, "I mean, yeah. He was… why do you care so much? You see his speech on TV or something?"

The guy nodded before he said, "Yeah, but, uh…"

The young man cleared his throat as Clara turned to the kid, wondering what he was trying to say. He started to fidget from foot to foot before he leaned in to tell her what he's been hiding.

"He's my father" he blurted out.

"What?" Clara turned to him.

"Him and my mom, they did it"

"No, I know, are you sure?"

He nodded, "Yeah, he left my mom before I was born. I met him 10 years back but didn't know it was him by the time I figured it out, it was too late. Then, this week I saw him on TV again, and I came to that house, looking for him but by the time I got there"

The young man sighed as he gave a wry smile and a shrug.

He continued, "Late again, for a guy who moves as fast as me, I always seem to be too late"

"Let's hope not this time" Clara answered honestly.

"Yeah" he nodded before he stuck out his hand, "I'm Peter by the way!"

Before Clara could reach out and shake his hand, she got a minor headache before she heard Charles' voice, "Hear me inhabitants of this world"

"Charles?!"

"This is a message"

"What is this his voice mail or something?" Peter asked.

"A message to every man, woman, and mutant in the world" Charles continued, "You have lost your way but I have returned. The day of reckoning is here all your buildings, all of your towers and temples will fall and the dawn of a new age will rise for there is nothing you can do to stop what is coming. This message is for one reason alone to tell the strongest among you those with the greatest power… protect those without. That's my message to the world"

Raven grabbed onto her head as she tried again, "Charles!"

"How was Charles doing that without Cerebro?" Hank asked.

"The Ancient Mutant" Clara told him.

"I know that voice" Stryker called in to them, "It's Xavier, isn't it? What's going on?"

"We don't know!"

"We don't know, bro!"

Clara took a step closer, "You have to let us out of here"

Stryker shook his head, "Not a chance"

"Charles is most likely being held hostage and he needs our help"

"Then give me the coordinates and I will send my men out to pick him up"

Raven scoffed, "Why? So you could probe his mind?"

"Don't make me offer twice"

"No way! You're up to something" Moira shook her head.

"I'm offering you my help" Stryker said calmly.

Hank shook his head, "I've heard of what you do to mutants, Charles would be like winning the lottery to you. We won't offer him up to set ourselves free"

Stryker turns to something on the screen and left for a bit as Clara glared, "This is trying my patience. I'm not going to sit here and take this much longer"

Moira turned to her, "What are you planning on doing?"

Clara turned and looked to Raven whom she gave a smirk to. Raven backed up away from her as Clara turned her attention to her hand. She lifted up her hand to summon a fireball to her hand but then stopped. She jerked her hand and wiggled it around before looking up to the windows in disbelief.

Raven went back to her, "What's happening?"

Clara shook her head, "I have no idea. I can't summon up my fire power"

Hank looked around, "It must be these walls, they neutralize powers"

"Great!" Peter shouted out.

"Son of a bitch" Clara muttered.

Raven shook her head, "There's no way I'm handing these guys Charles"

"Don't worry!" Clara stood on one foot, "I have another way of getting their attention"

Clara took off her shoe and slammed it into the window. Just as her shoe fell to the floor, alarms blared as a yellow light could be seen in the room above.

"Clara!" Hank shouted.

"That wasn't me!"

Raven rolled her eyes, "It doesn't look like it. Stryker isn't paying attention to us anymore"

"Then what happened out there?" Moira asked.

"Someone's busting in" Peter mused.

Clara took a step back, "Do you think it's them again?"

No one answers but stares up at the windows. Clara really hoped that the group wouldn't come now. They were at their most defenseless in this cage if it was the Ancient Mutant. Clara turned to her hands and tried to concentrate but her flames wouldn't come out. She looked up with a panicked expression to the windows and hoped that whoever broke out or in, was on their side.

"We'll be sitting ducks if it is" Hank answers.

"What are they doing?"

"What's going on?"

Clara shook her head as she said, "Nothing good"


	14. Unexpected Rescuers

Clara looked up from the cell, "Did you hear that?"

The others followed her look as the clamor outside seemed to be more like raised voices and arguing now. She could barely make out anything they were saying but neither could anyone else. All she knew was that no one was paying attention to them in the cell anymore. Something more threatening outside was working their way into the facility. Clara swallowed as she turned to the door, hoping there was some sort of switch nearby.

Clara ran her hands over the doors and the corners as the guards worry started to make her panicked. She slammed her hands on the door as she felt tears brimming her eyes. She felt a pair of hands pull her away from the door as she turned around to see Hank was doing it. Whether he was still mad at her or not, Clara hugged her friend tightly as he did the same.

A guard could be heard from up above, "Hey! Stay where you are!"

Clara looked up just as gunshots erupted from inside the viewing room, making everyone gasp. She stiffened as she saw a spray of blood on the window before a soldier was slammed into the window. Everyone let out a scream as they all ran over to the closest wall of the viewing room to be out of sight.

Hank panted, "Keep quiet! Hopefully whatever is up there didn't notice us"

"Hopefully?" Moira repeated.

Clara swallowed as she looked over to the green bars of light nearly close to her skin. She didn't know which would be worse now, to be seen by this unknown threat or to be zapped with this unknown electric force.

"I say one of the teachers goes out to see if that thing is gone" Peter opted.

Hank and Clara turned and looked to Peter as Raven said, "We'll go together"

"Alright" Hank nodded, "Now"

"Do you think he's gone?" Moira asked.

No one answered as everyone listened to the dead silence with only the alarms blaring overhead.

Peter stiffened up, "Someone's up there"

Clara watched as a blue figure popped up as he started to talk to everyone in the cell before Hank said, "Kurt"

"What?"

"What?"

"We can't hear you!" Clara shouted out.

Kurt glanced down before his voice came in through the now distorted speakers, "Stay away from the-"

"The what?"

"The do-" Kurt moved his hand, "Stay away from the-"

"Get away from the door!" Raven shouted.

"On three" Kurt announced, "One… Two…"

An explosion came from the door as Clara quickly rushed out to see Jean and Scott standing there before Jean said, "We know where the Professor is"

Scott continued, "I think we might have a way out of here"

"Well, you've been busy"

"We had a little help" Scott stammered before he ushered everyone to follow him, "Let's go"

Scott started running before a blue mist appeared in front of him, "Ah! Jesus!"

"Oh, sorry!" Kurt said as he ran with them.

"This way!" Scott turned right.

"I don't know whether or not I'm angry or glad to see you three here" Clara told Jean, "I guess we'll see how my mood is with you guys after all of this is over"

Jean turned and looked to her as she gave the woman a smile. Clara smiled back and patted her on the back, knowing it was incredibly brave what these three had done. Clara jumped over a fallen soldier, not really know whether or not to feel sorry about the man or glad they were dead. She then turned and looked at Jean, wondering if they were the ones who killed them but Jean just shook her head as Scott opened up a gateway to reveal a couple of jets.

Hank breathed out, "Nice"

Clara turned to him, "Hey, Hank, do you think you can fly this thing?"

"Yeah, I can figure it out" Hank shrugged.

"Hey guys" Scott said from the corner as he opened up a container, "Flight suits"

Raven looked over to Hank, "You got your warplane. Let's go to war"

* * *

"Are you still mad at me?" Clara asked Hank as he flew the jet, "You know why I did it, right? I didn't think the vision was much of a big deal and bringing him up would've only upset you. I know how much you hate him and I wanted to honor our friendship with never bringing him up to you. If I knew he was going to take Charles hostage I would've said something. You know that right?"

Hank smiled as he looked over his shoulder, "I could never be mad at you for long. I'm glad you were thinking about me first but I can handle myself, you know"

"I sometimes forget you're a big boy" Clara smirked as she ruffled his blue fur.

Clara heard a light voice behind her, "Were you scared? That day in DC, were you scared?"

"No" Raven quickly said, she was quiet for a couple of moments before she said, "But I was scared on my first mission. I was on a plane just like this with my friends about your age. We called ourselves the X-Men"

Raven leaned over to look at Scott, "Your brother was there. We used to call him Havok, he was a real handful but when it came down to it, he was very brave"

"What happened to the rest of the kids who went with you?" Kurt asked, "The X-Men?"

Raven shifted as she said, "Hank and I are the only ones left, I couldn't save the rest of them. I told you, I'm not a hero"

"Well, you're a hero to us" Jean turned to her, "Seeing you that day on TV changed my life"

"Mine too" Kurt said, making Clara smile that Raven's son felt that way.

Peter spoke up, "Mine too. I still live at my mom's basement but, you know, everything else is, uh… oh, it's pretty much the same. I'm a total loser"

Clara sighed as she mumbled from her seat in the front, "I hope we make it in time. I can't help but think back to Charles' message to the world. I highly doubt this… apocalypse guy wanted him to say those last words. But now that he did, now what? Is he going to punish him? He must have so many abilities now that who knows what he can do to Charles. I'm starting to have my doubts that Erik would let his man hurt his friend but seeing him like that is making me fear for the worst. We don't know what's going to happen the second we get to Cairo"

"We'll do what we can and save Charles no matter what… I have faith in our team" Hank turned and looked to Clara as she gave him a nod.


	15. War

Clara watched as Hank sped them closer and closer to Cairo, the speed nearly pushed her back in her seat. She couldn't help but think if it would come to the point where she would have to fight off Erik in order to get to Charles. Her stomach turned in a knot as she deeply inhaled, wondering if she was strong enough to defeat him. It wasn't that she didn't have faith in her abilities, she mostly didn't have faith within her own heart. Seeing him back in the halls of Cerebro had cost Scott's brother his life and knowing if she hesitates again, she could lose Charles' as well.

A tear ran down her cheek as she knew, even after all these years of him leaving her, she still loved him. Everytime he did it back in the brotherhood, she kind of knew he would come back eventually and he would. It was almost trained within them to constantly be wrapped up in lust before pushing each other away once more. Clara even knew when she was hiding in Poland that eventually Erik would find his way back to her.

This time she wasn't so sure because it wasn't an act of lust that would be driving him back to her. The madness of Apocalypse was now forcing them to take on different sides which she feared the most. Clara knew in her heart that she wouldn't be able to kill him even if she tried.

Clara swallowed as she straightened herself up in the co-pilot seat and continued to focus in on her job. She didn't want to think too far into the future and at all of the negative outcomes that could possibly happen.

Beast turned to her, "You alright? You look like you're about to puke"

"Just worried about the future" Clara said before she gave off a dry laugh, "I can't believe those words even came out of my mouth. I could just look into the future and see how this all ends but I can't. I'm actually terrified of what is to come. I don't want my gift to spoil my focus on our mission"

Beast nodded as they neared Cairo which seemed to be in a big dust storm as Hank just went right through it to reveal nearly everything was floating in the air surrounding the pyramids.

"Seventh wonder, twelve o'clock" Beast informed.

Jean spoke from the back, "He has the Professor in the center of the pyramid. He's going to transfer his consciousness into the Professor. If he does that he'll have the power to control every mind in the world"

"What the hell is that?" Moira asked as Beast turned the plane around to reveal a larger than life magnetic field.

Clara swallowed, "It's Erik"

"Huh?" Peter said, suddenly in between Beast and Clara.

Raven looked down to Clara, asking a hidden question in which Clara shook her head no to before she turned to the kids, "You guys help Nightcrawler get into the pyramid, get Charles, I'll take care of Erik"

Beast nodded over to the metal flying around him, "How are you gonna get through that?"

Peter turned to Raven, "I can get you in there. I came here for him, let me help you"

"The rest of you, get Charles on this plane and get him out of here" Raven demanded.

"We're not leaving without you!" Nightcrawler argued.

"Don't worry, we'll catch up" Peter told him.

Clara called over her shoulder, "Hold on"

Beast descended the jet plane down as everything shook as he leaned them down in an angle. Clara scouted out for a perfect place to land but found it difficult from all of the debris everywhere. Hank nodded off to the right as a lopsided hill near an almost destroyed building. Clara gave off a slight shrug and nodded as it was as good as any kind of landing site before everyone filed outside.

Raven instructed, "Hank, Clara, you guys go with the kids and Moira will be waiting on the plane"

Scott cut in, "Wait"

Raven turned to him, "What?"

"Not all of us can fully control our powers" Scott confessed.

"Then don't" Raven told him, "You need to embrace them, we all do"

Raven changed into her blue form as she watched the light and courage come back into the kid's eyes. Peter walked up beside her and almost the second he touched her, they were both gone.

Clara nodded, "Let's go! Keep your eyes peeled, there were four mutants with Apocalypse. More than likely they already know we're here"

Hank motioned for everyone to join him near a corner building, "There's an entrance, it's clear"

She looked up just in time to see a winged mutant flying down to them.

"Kurt! Get in there!"

Kurt teleported out from right next to her as Clara looked up just as the winged man shot out blades from his wings. Jean gasped as she brought up a few bricks to block them from hitting her.

She craned her head as she noticed the mutant saw Kurt teleport to the entrance. She quickly jumped over the barrier and sent a fireball hurling to the man. Angel spun away with barely anytime left between him and her flame.

Clara swirled her hand and summoned a big wave of a flame and sent it crashing into the man. He flew up higher but Clara waved out her hand and strained as she made the fire chase after him before it hit him near the knees. She heard the man call out in pain before she saw something silver fling out and toward her direction. Before she could figure out what it was, the blade pierced into her leg at maximum speed.

Clara let out a scream as she went crashing down to the ground, cradling her leg. She could hear a scream from the distance as she looked up to see Jean being held back by Scott. A roar was sounded above her as Beast jumped down next to her fallen body and without hesitation, ripped out the blade from her leg. Clara let out a scream in agony as she tried her best to concentrate on summoning up her fire power. The second she saw it dancing on her hands she slammed it down to her wound where she felt a nice sunshine feeling of warmth as her flames healed her wound.

"Jesus! Could you try to be a little bit more gentle next time" Clara asked as he pulled her up.

Beast said back, "A little thank you would've been better"

Lightning struck as Clara looked in front of her to see the female mutant with a white mohawk land in front of the kids. She gasped as she watched the woman send a car over to Jean and Scott.

Clara ran off as she watched Scott and Jean duck in time. Clara dropped down to the ground with only seconds to spare from the flying car. She glanced back in time to see Beast grab onto the car and hurl it back over to the woman.

Clara looked up and around for the angel mutant that she had a quarrel with earlier but couldn't see him. A glint of a wing made her look to the left before she noticed he was flying back into the building, most likely going after Kurt. Clara cursed to herself as she glanced around for a clear passage to run into the pyramid. She took off to the right as she jumped over bricks and to the main passage as she noticed the final mutant landing in front of Jean, Scott, and Hank.

Clara turned around and caught Hank's eye as he nodded to the side before running to join the kids. She turned back around and sent out a fireball toward the entrance. The man was about to go through when a wall of fire was summoned up, making him quickly fly back. He turned back around and looked at the ground until he locked eyes with Clara. She gave him a wicked look before she waved out her hand and sent a whip like flame in his direction.

This time the Angel was ready as he flew towards it but the shielded himself with his wings and spun around. The flames didn't touch him as he sent off blades toward Clara once again. Clara leaped and rolled out of the way just in time as she got closer to the entrance.

She also noticed that with each passing second she wasted fighting with him, the angel mutant still tried to make his way back to the pyramid. She growled in frustration as she sent more fire in his direction, trying to hold him off for as long as she could. Clara turned and tried to do the same as she ran over to the floor entrance but stopped when silver blades flung dangerously close to her. Clara looked up just in time to see the man swoop down to tackle her to the ground.

Clara grunted as the man grabbed onto her and flew her high into the sky. She knew that if he got high enough, he could drop her and she would be killed instantly. Clara grunted as she threw a punch into the man's face making him grunt but still hold her tight. In a desperate attempt, she let out a scream and covered herself in a body of fire. The man let out a cry from her flames and dropped her down to the ground.

Clara squinted her eyes close as she felt herself connect to the ground, breaking a few bones but since her flames were already around her, it instantly healed themselves. She let out a sigh of relief as she let the fire die down before jumping to her feet. She cursed to herself as she noticed the angel mutant had flown into the pyramid. Clara moved to run into the entrance when a flash of silver appeared and Peter stopped her.

Peter rushed out, "Mystique can't get him to listen"

"Then make him listen!" Clara tried to move around him.

Peter grabbed onto her arm, "You don't get it, do you? He doesn't want to _listen_ to her… but he'll listen to you"

Clara turned and looked up to the pyramid where she had lost her opponent, now probably on his way to find Nightcrawler. Lightning ripped the sky as she looked over to the other mutant splitting up the group as Beast took on another woman. Clara nervously bit her lip as she knew her fight was here but at the cost of lives, Erik most likely killed thousands already. She turned back to Peter who had a pleading look on his face, glancing back every once in awhile to where Erik was. Clara finally reluctantly nodded and straightened herself up.

"Take me to him"


	16. Erik

Clara felt like she barely let the words come out of her mouth before she even knew what was happening to her. One second she was facing Peter with the pyramid behind him, the next she was standing high up in front of some magnetic shield. She bent down as she felt like the insides of her body were about to come up to her mouth and just display their contents everywhere in front of her. Her head almost felt like it was spinning as she didn't know which was better to either close her eyes or not. After taking a few slow breaths, she slowly straightened herself up and let out a sigh before opening her eyes, she noticed that Mystique was no longer on the platform which meant that Peter had switched them out so one of them was still fighting.

In the center of the magnetic field was Erik, levitating himself with his eyes closed, sensing out metal from as far as he could reach. He seemed at peace now but she knew it wasn't what was displayed on his face that counted but actually what was going on in his mind. Being this close to him after all these years felt almost like nothing as her heart fluttered and tears formed in her eyes. Clara reached out and placed her hand on the metal but noticed it felt like a round ball as she tried to push her way in.

"The magnetic field is too strong" Peter told her, "I couldn't get us in there"

"Erik!" Clara yelled out.

Upon hearing her voice, Erik opened his eyes and looked over in the direction of Peter and Clara standing there, he seemed just as stunned to see her as he did back at the mansion as he whispered out, "Clara"

"I know you think you've lost everything" Clara finally started out, "But you haven't. You have me, you have Charles and Mystique"

Clara looked over to Peter who glanced back to her before Clara turned back to Erik, "You have more family than you know. You never had the chance to save your family before but you do now that's what I've come here to tell you"

Erik stared at her for a long moment, boring his eyes straight into her soul with tears in his eyes before he turned and looked to Peter, "And you?"

Peter almost looked surprised that Erik would even acknowledge him standing there with her. Clara turned and looked at the young man standing next to her, wondering if this was his chance. She glanced down to the ground as she didn't know what to think with her position in his life amongst his wife and kids.

"I'm your…" Peter was about to finish his sentence before he stopped himself as panic was written all over his face, "I'm here for my family, too"

She looked back over to Peter, almost shocked that he didn't tell Erik the truth. Peter cleared his throat and shifted his feet a little bit.

Clara glanced back over to Erik who had a far off daze written on his face.

Tears fell from his eyes as he locked eyes with her once more. She remembered the first time she saw him when she used her powers openly to scare off a man trying to hit on her, setting his mustache on fire. She was about to pick up her moscow mule when it moved suddenly down the bar into Erik's hand. The second she saw him, she knew this man would be intriguing to chase.

Now, years and complicated relationships later, they were standing on opposite sides with the same look on each other's face. That no matter what, they still loved each other.

"You don't know what they have done to my girls, Clara. You weren't there when you saw them die" Erik said tearfully, "My life was ripped away from me when they died"

Clara shook her head, "Think about what you're doing right now"

"I am doing what was meant to be done thousands of years ago" Erik told her.

Clara turned around and looked at all the destruction that Erik was causing, all the metal appearing above the air. All the destruction as not too far from them, the X-men were fighting to get to Charles. She stood idly by, trying to coax her ex-lover into stopping this madness. She caught a glimpse of Nightcrawler teleporting around with Angel stuck on his tail, just as he was about to lose the battle, Mystique jumped out of nowhere and separated Angel from her son, giving him time to teleport away. Clara blinked as she turned back around, glad to know that Erik was still staring at her and not going back into his meditation.

"What about the mutant families you are helping destroy?" Clara demanded.

Erik opened his mouth slightly before he suddenly stopped himself. He glanced back out to the world with all the metal in the air. She knew this was hitting him home as she decided to pressure on. If there was anything else Erik loved, it was mutants and staying together.

Clara turned back around as she noticed the battle was still being diverted away from her, Peter's, and Erik's conversation. She had to hurry, she didn't know how much longer they could hold without her. Clara glanced back over to Erik as his train of thought seemed weakened.

"Erik, you're killing millions of mutants for just one man claiming to be a god"

Erik formed his jaw as he turned back to his work and tried to concentrate. Clara knew this part of him too well, but instead of all the times in the past where she backed off, she persisted.

She refused to lose this battle over some mutant who came back from the dead.

Erik stated, "Being with Charles has made you weak"

Clara shook her head as she looked around and shimmied herself on the platform. Peter urged her to stop but she didn't care. She continued to move until she was directly in front of Erik. He stood there, his eyes locked in on hers as she, her eyes nearly glowing the with fire behind them.

"Being at Charles' mansion has made me realize something that you never taught me in the brotherhood"

"And what's that?"

"The people who truly care about you would never abandon you" Clara said coldly.

Just then, she heard a rumbling sound as she turned and noticed the jet moving upwards. She breathed a sigh of relief as she knew that meant that the others had the Professor.

"Looks like you're about to be abandoned again" Erik said from in front of her.

"Have you honestly stooped that low to make those kind of jokes when it was you who abandoned me?" Clara turned back to him, "You need to realize that this is getting pretty damn old"

"Then leave" Erik told her.

"Not until you stop this magnetic crap" Clara countered.

"It's all I've ever known"

"No, it's all you ever want to shine light upon"

From behind her, Clara heard an explosion. She quickly turned around and saw the jet plane had crashed and burned in a neighborhood in the distance. Clara had turned around so quickly that she lost her balance and let out a gasp. Before she could let out a scream, she felt something grab a hold of her and stop her fall, she turned expecting to see Peter there but noticed it was metal holding her up. Erik moved the metal to where Peter was as she stood on the bigger platform and stared up at him, there was still good in Erik… there was still hope.


	17. Betrayed

"Oh my God…" Clara called out tearfully as she watched the smoke go up to the sky.

Peter turned to her, "We need to get back"

"Let's hope Kurt got them out. You need to take me to the sight of the plane" Clara told him.

"You got it" Peter nodded, "But what about our mission with him?"

Clara turned to Peter as she said, "There's nothing we can do. Erik's always done things his own way"

"But what if he continues to disrupt the magnetic field?"

Clara looked up to Erik as he stared down at them, listening in to their entire conversation. She had to hold on to the little shred of hope that when he saved her from falling just a moment ago, that meant something more than just a gesture. Her mind rushed back to how she almost fell as something clicked in her mind. If Erik had the heart to save her when she was in danger than maybe he would stop this if he knew she was intending to go after Apocalypse. The thought made her terrified of the suicide mission, but she knew she had to do something impulsive to make him stop.

"I'm going to go back to fight for what I have left" Clara told him, "Are you?"

Just like before, Peter took her within a flash before he said, "You should wait here while I look around. The feeling will pass soon enough. I don't want you out in the open while you're not yourself. Be right back. Don't go anywhere"

Clara huffed, "Believe me, I won't. Warn me next time, will you?"

"There's no one in the rubble except for that one guy" Peter said after about a second of leaving her alone.

Clara furrowed her eyebrows as she slowly got up and looked over the barrier to the crash behind her. The angel mutant was lying in the rubble, half burned but pretty much dead. A small part of her wished it was her that evened out the score instead of a simple plan crash. A purple force field appeared out of nowhere near the sight, making Clara quickly duck down and grab onto Peter to follow.

"It's him" Clara whispered, "He's out there, the transference wasn't complete. He seems to be alone right now"

"Charles!" Apocalypse shouted out making Clara and Peter look to each other, "Show yourself! Charles! Show yourself!"

Clara turned to tell Peter something but then realized that he was no longer by her side, she looked around at her sides before she glanced back over the brick wall.

She gasped when she noticed Apocalypse was being flown around in different directions as something quick and silver was swirling past him. Just as when she thought that she had only seen Apocalypse was being thrown around for a split second, she noticed Peter had suddenly stopped.

Clara watched in horror before she could do anything as the ancient mutant had grabbed Peter's fist and kicked the poor man's leg in, breaking it. His scream made her snap out of it as she moved to help him but someone stopped her. She turned and noticed Mystique was by her side as she transformed into the long haired mutant woman.

"Wait here" she said in her own voice.

"You better hurry the hell up"

Mystique nodded as she came out of hiding and walked into Apocalypse's view. He turned and looked to her as Mystique waved her sword around. Apocalypse looked down to the young man, grabbed him by the hair and moved his head back to expose his neck. Mystique moved slowly up to them as Clara watched from their hide out.

Apocalypse nodded over to Peter, "End him"

She moved her sword out and sliced up instead of down to reveal a gash on Apocalypse's neck. Clara was about to smile when she noticed that the slice did nothing to the mutant as he reached out and grabbed onto her neck. Clara watched as the man lifted her up as Mystique lost concentration as she transformed into her blue form as Apocalypse taunted her. She couldn't watch anymore as she trembled and looked back in Erik's direction. She let out a shaky breath as she noticed that he was still in his magnetic shield but looking over to what was happening on the ground.

Clara whispered, "Will you do nothing?"

Clara turned back around as she got up and walked out of her hiding spot and stood only a couple of feet away from Apocalypse. He turned his eyes toward her as Clara let her flames consume her hands as she stared down their ancestor.

Apocalypse smirked, "The Ember, Erik has told me all about you"

"I'd tread lightly if I were you, old man"

"You dare taunt your father?"

Clara scoffed, "My father was taken away from me long ago. He'd be proud for what I'm about to do to you"

Clara waved out her hands and blast a part of his body away from both Peter and Mystique. He dropped Mystique to the ground and walked a couple of spaces back. She raised out her hand and shot out her flames in mini fireballs one after another.

Each time he moved back, Clara moved forward as she gave him everything she got, knowing once he recuperate, it would all be over. Just as she thought that a sharp metal came and sliced her side. She let out a yelp as she pressed her fired up hand on her wound, healing her before she noticed quicksand was holding her in place. Clara looked up as she noticed Apocalypse had stopped moving and had his hand out as the quicksand moved around her, hissing like rattlesnakes.

"You fight well, my daughter" Apocalypse complimented, "I should've recruited you instead of Angel. Maybe it is not too late for you after all"

Clara formed her mouth in disgust as she spit out to the dirt in front of him. The motion angered him as she sent a line of fire to his body once more. It only consumed him for a couple of seconds before she felt pain in her feet. Clara let out a yelp as she looked down and noticed the sand was working it's way into her boots and pushing into her skin. Clara set her own body on fire but it was no use as Apocalypse's power was overriding her self healing power, making her scream out in agony to the skies above, begging him to stop.

"You are feeble" Apocalypse said.

"Go to hell!"

Apocalypse yelled out once more, "Charles! Come! Rescue your weaklings! Give your life for theirs"

"Don't do it!" Clara screamed out from her pain.

Apocalypse turned to her and waved his hand as she screamed at the pain travelling up to her ankles. She couldn't concentrate anymore as her body appeared lost from her flames. She reached down to her ankles as if her own two hands could break the spell Apocalypse had them under.

"You had heart" Apocalypse told her, "It's a pity you have a mind like a child's. Charles! Watch me make a living statue out of this firebender! Will you do nothing?"

Clara shuddered as she badgered on, "You're the child, collecting powers and life as if they were toys, you're no god, you're a leech!"

The pain traveled up to her knees, making Clara scream out as her body went erect. She could feel her body slowing down to a stop. Tears fell down her face as she sobbed from the pain. For once, fear went into her as she wanted someone to help her but knew that if the others came, they would risk having Charles being exposed.

Apocalypse spat, "You're all beneath me"

Clara shook her head, "Then why do you constantly need to feed off of all of us in order to survive"

She swallowed as she felt her mind become dizzy from all the pain she was experiencing. Clara almost felt delirious and wondered if she was going to pass out and wake up in a casket of rocks. She looked up as her vision blurred, watching the man slowly walk up to her. Clara swallowed as the first time she felt like she could taste blood in the back of her mouth. Clara shuddered as she placed her hands on her thighs to keep from falling over.

Apocalypse's eyes went white as he lifted up his hand in her direction. She grimaced and waited to experience pain before she realized none came. Clara turned her head to the side to see the building behind her drifted away the second building wall to reveal the rest of the X-men. Clara let out a groan as she strained to have her fire come back to her hands, mentally telling herself to not lose consciousness yet.

He turned his attention to her and only smirked as he slowly made his way up to her. Clara didn't have the energy to throw her fire but once he was close enough, she threw out her hand to punch him but even that was too much work as her fire died out. She wished that she had connected, but it didn't as the ancient mutant reached out and grabbed onto her neck. One hand was on the back of her head and the other was over her chin as her eyes went wide at the positions. She knew fully well that her life was going to be over in a matter of seconds.

Before he could move his hands to break her neck, something fell to the left of Clara, making her yelp. They both turned and looked as a metal bar was right next to her. Another thud made her turn to the right before Apocalypse lost his train of thought and the pain and paralysis escaped her legs, making Clara fall to the ground. She quickly summoned fire to her legs as the pain melted away, bringing in a sense of euphoric pleasure into her brain. Clara glanced up to her savior as Erik floated down closer to Apocalypse who stood now a few paces away from him.

He said, "You betray me?"

"No" Erik said as he nodded over to the group, "I betrayed them"

Erik looked behind Apocalypse and locked eyes with Clara, giving her a small nod.

Clara knew what he was thinking as she sprang up to her feet as metal floated up around them. She growled as she summoned up fire that nearly reached her elbows, ready when Erik was.

Together, they shot out their fire and metal at the same time to Apocalypse as he stood in the middle. She could tell that he had his forcefield up as she continued to work on sending more heat in. Clara could hear him snarling at them in frustration but now that Erik was helping them, she didn't feel as terrified as before, a blue form went down next to her as Beast appeared at her side.

"Apocalypse is moving closer to Raven and Peter"

"Get them out of there!"

"Whatever you do, don't stop!" Hank told her, "Keep working on him"

Clara gave off a nod as she waved out her arms as far as the could go. She watches as her flames moved around Apocalypse and burned into the metal of Erik's. Her fire was so hot that it burned and molded the metal bars into spikes that Erik created to try and shatter his shield. Clara strained but she kept her aim focused on the metal far away from Hank as he worked to rescue the others.

"Come on!" Clara muttered.

A bright red ruby light came from the right as Clara turned and saw Scott had appeared on the side of Apocalypse, far away from Hank as he tried to break Peter free. The force of his blast sent Apocalypse hobbling sideways as he stumbled from losing his balance. A flicker of hope went through her before she realized that his forcefield never died down. Clara groaned but still held onto her power and let out a yell. Eventually, the three could overpower him somehow.

Clara groaned slightly as she felt a headache dull into the back of her head. She tried her best not to notice it as she focused her fire away from Hank and the others.

Finally, she noticed he broke Peter free as he grabbed onto the man and moved them quickly away from the ancient mutant. Clara let out a scream as she moved her fire back to centering the mutant. Her elbows buckled into her sides as sweat started to form on her brow.

"Come on" Clara strained, "Give up already you bastard! Just die!"


	18. Defeated

Clara strained as she tried to push herself more and more to hold onto her power like everyone else was.

Clara let out a shuddering breath, "He's too powerful"

Clara gulped as she waved out her hand once more as she felt her arms getting tired and numb from willing so much fire into her. She was starting to get fearful that she had finally reached her limit.

Up ahead, she saw Hank jump down as he growled, wanting to pound on the shield of Apocalypse. But she watched as in midair as he was sent the other way and crashed on top of a car. Clara gasped as she turned and looked to her friend but couldn't see if he was alright or not.

Clara let out a groan as she summoned up more power within her and waved it out to Apocalypse. She turned and noticed Scott closed his eyes for a moment before he was thrown to a wall. Clara felt useless as she just watched Scott get molded into a part of the wall. As much as she wanted to help the teenager right now, she was the last mutant standing in Apocalypse's way before he reached the Professor.

Almost as if thinking him made Apocalypse notice her, he turned to her as she knew she was next. He waved out his hand, making Clara feel weightless as she was thrown to the right. Her body tumbled on the ground for a little bit before her head smacked into the wall behind her. Clara's eyes rolled to the back of her head as everything seemed to lose focus for a moment. The last thing she saw was Apocalypse looking at her before turning his attention to the building that held the Professor.

Apocalypse yelled out, "Come out and join them Charles! Be amongst the weaklings who dare to defy me!"

Clara groaned as she tried to pick herself up from the ground but only got a couple of inches off before she collapsed back down. She then noticed that her arms were trembling terribly as she felt the headache spread throughout her entire head.

"No" Clara breathed out.

"Ah!" Erik shouted out as he was the only one hitting Apocalypse with his power.

Clara strained, "That's enough resting"

As if her body was trying to protest further, she felt something liquid spill out from her nose. She didn't have to check to know it was a bloody nose. Clara had experienced frequent bloody noses when she first realized she was a mutant.

Clara suddenly heard shrieking from overhead as a bright light made her turn. The shrieking sounded between a bird and a scream as a giant firebird was suddenly in front of Apocalypse. Clara shaded her eyes as she noticed that it was Jean who was screaming. She couldn't help but gawk at how strong the young teenager was as she noticed Apocalypse's force field was finally down.

Clara struggled as she slowly got to her feet, even though her body was aching and telling her to stop. Clara took a few steps before she waved out her hand but realized that nothing happened, she was too weak. She waved out her hand to Jean and the fire that she had created. It was easier to manipulate fire than to create it as the fire swirled out and hit Apocalypse. From within the inferno she could hear the ancient mutant let out a howling scream.

Erik shot out more metal bars and this time it pierced the mutant in his skin. Clara let out a sigh as she continued to aim the fire towards him. A shot of ruby lasers came back as Scott joined the fight once more. The mutant was too overwhelmed by all of the different kind of powers directed towards him.

Clara turned and noticed the force field like teleportation that covered him was up again. A fleeting moment happened as she realized that he could still get away from them. Just as he was about to disappear, lightning shot down from the sky as one of his other followers destroyed his shield. Clara's hand wavered as Jean let out a final scream before Apocalypse disappeared in a billow of ashes.

Everyone suddenly stopped their own unique gift as they couldn't believe what they all just did. Together, they killed the first and most powerful mutant that could ever walk this earth. Clara let out a smile before her legs gave way as she fell. A strong arm caught her from hitting the ground as she let out a shuddering breath, her nose bleed painted the ground below her. She slowly turned her head back up to see Erik had caught her and was holding her up.

Erik picked up the end of his cape and gently wiped the blood off of her face as he looked down to her.

Once he was done, he gently sat himself down on the ground, still holding her. Clara let out another breath as she looked up and around at the chaos.

Erik gave a small smile, "You fought well today. I was wrong to say that you were weak"

"Damn right you were"

"Could you ever forgive me?"

"As of right now… no"

"I thought as much"

Clara sighed, "I'm glad you helped us though"

Erik stiffened up, "I was blind in my rage. All I wanted was to cause pain and suffering to as many people as I could"

"But you ended up saving people... so unlike you" Clara smiled.

Erik couldn't help but let out a chuckle as Clara gave a weak smile back to him. She still couldn't believe that this was all happening that they actually won in the end. If she had more strength left in her, she would be running around and hugging everyone that helped and possibly talk about throwing a party.

"It looks like you're not the only one that turned a leaf recently" Erik joked.

Clara shrugged, "So you've noticed that I'm a teacher now. I give them a run for their money though… literally"

"I knew you would" Erik shook his head, "I'm surprised that Charles would even let you teach a class. What was the catch?"

"He has to approve all of the activities" Clara rolled her eyes.

She didn't realize that rolling her eyes would suddenly make her dizziness come back as her head lolled to the side. Clara blinked but couldn't help but notice the world was still spinning too rapidly for her. Erik held her still almost as if he knew what she was going through. His eyes drilled into her as she tried not to fall for them as she always had in the past.

"You've reached your limit, Clara" Erik told her.

Clara opened her mouth to have something snarky to say but instead, she felt weaker by the second. Her eyes blurred as she could feel her eyelids slowly starting to close. The last thing she saw was Erik staring down at her before looking up and picking her up bridal style. She thought she heard Mystique yell out her name as someone touched her head but the voices sounded too far away. All she wanted right now was to lie her head back and rest until next week.


	19. New Path

Clara shielded her eyes as she watched both Jean and Erik work together to build the school back together again. She smiled to herself as she literally watched her home being rebuilt after just yesterday being blown to pieces.

She was relieved when they finally landed back in New York to see that the rest of the teachers and children had scavenged around for tents and set up in the yard. Clara turned to the students and watched as they all slowly started to follow the Professor inside.

As they did, she couldn't help but feel like her body was now cemented to the ground, not wanting to go back inside. She couldn't deny feeling a lump in her throat as she remembered the meeting everyone had on the jetplane. Clara swallowed as she wondered if her decision was the right one but no one, not even Hank had argued for her to change her mind. But she knew that she wouldn't be missed for long, even now she was counting down the days to come back and see how the school was being handled. For once in her life, this place actually felt like home and this time, she was both reluctant but also confidant in her time to leave the school.

" _So you're giving this the green light?" Hank asked, "The X-men, you're finally letting us train students to be called upon to fight"_

 _Charles answered, "Not anytime soon, at least I hope not, but yes. Being Apocalypse's hostage made me fear for my life and when I anticipated Jean's rescue mission that was when my fear went from my own life to theirs. Scott, Kurt, and Jean have never been in this type of situation and for them to be brave enough to risk their lives for everyone else was more promising than ever for me"_

 _Charles nodded, "I believe that you and Clara would be great teachers for times like these"_

" _Great" Hank said with a huge smile on his face._

" _No"_

 _Everyone's eyes turned to Clara's as she sat hunched over with Erik's cape as a blanket, Charles' eyes focused on hers as he asked, "Clara?"_

" _No… I don't want to do it" Clara bit her lip, "As much as I am glad to be apart of this rescue mission, it was just too much for me. When we were in the brotherhood, all we did was cause mayhem and destruction, with the adrenaline of almost getting caught fueling us. This was different, this was almost like if we died… the rest of the world does too"_

 _Clara turned her eyes to Charles, "I know I put on a brave face but there's only so much I can take. I'm sorry Professor but I just need sometime away from…"_

" _Understood" Charles nodded as everyone was eerily quiet, "We can call in a sub to help us for the rest of the semester, maybe a student that recently graduated?"_

" _She won't need one" Mystique said from across from her, "Because she has me… I'll take her place as the teacher for her classes and help Hank with the X-Men"_

" _Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Charles asked hopeful with tears in his eyes._

" _Yes, Charles" Mystique smiled, "I'm coming home"_

Mystique appeared on her right as she too stared at the mansion.

Mystique scoffed, "I can't believe you're leaving the school"

Clara shrugged, "You know as well as I do that you being the trainer for the X-Men is a much smarter move, Raven"

"But what about your move of leaving with Erik?" Mystique asked.

Clara bit her lip, she was the first one to say that she was not returning and shortly after Erik had said he would not join as well. Raven, Charles, and Hank knew that if they both weren't on board, then they would both leave together. Clara folded her arms over her chest and kicked the grass blades as she cleared her throat. Somehow she believed that Erik wasn't going to want to go around terrorizing humans as he did when they were younger.

"I don't know" Clara answered honestly, "I just have to believe that I am stronger than I was before"

Raven placed her hand on Clara's arm, "You are. I saw it the moment you walked up to me yesterday"

"Thank you" Clara turned and smiled to her friend, "Be easy on my students, will you? They've always looked up to you and asked me millions of questions about when we were in the brotherhood"

Mystique scoffed, "I'll let them slide for about three days max"

Clara nodded over to Kurt motioning around to Jubilee as he teleported from in front of her to behind her as he mimicked the moves he did in Cairo, "What about your son? Are you ever going to tell him?"

Mystique stared in his direction too before she deeply inhaled and turned to her friend, "Yeah and I already have the perfect date in mind… September 25th"

Clara made a face as she said, "Why wait that long? What's so important about that date?"

"Because that was Azazel's birthday" Mystique turned her yellow eyes to Clara, "And also the date I told him I was pregnant"

"I'm glad that you decided to become my replacement… Charles was happy to see that you wanted to stay" Clara nudged her, "Hank was too"

Mystique smiled as she rolled her eyes, "I guess you were right about avoiding my emotions. Time to face them head on and see where this leads with Hank"

"Afterall, seeing your almost brother being killed by an ancient mutant you kind of rethink the decisions you made along the way" Mystique smirked, "You'll visit, won't you?"

"I haven't even left and you're already asking when I'll be back" Clara laughed, "Maybe I will if I hear that you screwed up my only class here at the Mansion"

Mystique chuckled with her before she hugged the other woman, "Until next time, Clara"

"Good luck, Mystique"

Clara waited in the car with the radio just barely playing as she glanced outside to the kids running around and playing in the distance. The door opened on the other side as Erik climbed into the driver's side and closed the door. She turned to him as he started to put the car in drive before looking back over to her.

He asked, "You sure you want to do this?"

Clara turned her head back and looked up to the mansion, everything seemed almost back to normal as kids ran around going to their classes. She was at least happy to know that no one was looking outside with puppy-dog eyes begging her to come inside.

Clara turned back around as Erik watched her, still having the car in park.

Clara nodded, "After the hell I've been through, I think I need a vacation. When I'm ready, I'll come back and torture the kids"

"I already feel sorry for them" Erik shook his head as he placed the car on drive, "So where to? You mentioned that you had a city in mind"

Clara took out the directions and gave them to Erik. He only skimmed them once before he gave her a look to which she deeply inhaled and nodded. Erik didn't argue with her as he drove around the roundabout and back over to the long lane back to civilization. Clara turned around and watched as the mansion got smaller and smaller as she felt like her heart might burst. A rough hand covered hers as Clara looked down to Erik's hand before she looked at him and gave Erik a smile, hoping for the best.


	20. Soundtrack

_**I'd Come for You- Nickelback**_

 _ **Not Meant to Be- Theory of a Deadman**_

 _ **With Arms Wide Open- Creed**_

 _ **It's Not Over- Daughtry**_

 _ **All or Nothing- Theory of a Deadman**_

 _ **When I'm Gone- 3 Doors Down**_

 _ **Second Chance- Shinedown**_

 _ **What About Now- Daughtry**_

 _ **Lullaby- Nickelback**_

 _ **Broken- Seether**_

 _ **Get Stoned- Hinder**_

 _ **Hanging by a Moment- Lifehouse**_

 _ **Wanna hear the soundtrack?**_ _Go to my bio and there will be a link to my 8tracks account where you'll be able to hear the album!_


End file.
